


Indulgence and Honesty (Rook Edition)

by CuteVyper



Series: 50 Kisses Challenge (and experiments) [1]
Category: Far Cry (Video Games), Far Cry 3
Genre: F/M, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Implied/Referenced Incest, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, OOC, OOC Vaas Montenegro, experimenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-12 04:08:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28754133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CuteVyper/pseuds/CuteVyper
Summary: Hope wasn't a clairvoyant and neither needed a Ouija board or whatever voodoo… stuff… the Rakyat use to realize that Jason Brody got pissed off about something.Part of my 50 kisses challenge. Hope you enjoy it.
Relationships: Jason Brody/Original Female Character(s), Vaas Montenegro/Original Female Character(s)
Series: 50 Kisses Challenge (and experiments) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2108076
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	Indulgence and Honesty (Rook Edition)

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt 2 : A small, fleeting kiss – which is immediately followed by a passionate, hungry kiss. 
> 
> Prompt 8 : Laying a gentle kiss to the back of the other’s hand. 
> 
> Starring Jason Brody, AKA colonialist fuckboy and Vaas Montenegro, AKA feral love-starved man. Enjoy… around 22200 words lovelies.

Hope wasn't a clairvoyant and neither needed a Ouija board or whatever voodoo… _stuff_ … the Rakyat use to realize that Jason Brody got pissed off about something. 

And of course, it had to be the day she was supposed to stay behind in the cave with the rest while Jason and Grant were out there trying to get a boat or the money for the missing parts necessary to repair the shitty wreck Daisy still calls _boat_. 

_Or_ _better said… to find Riley._ _Discard_ _what Keith_ _said. Riley is_ ** _not_** _dead!_

_… He is not dead. They will find_ _him._

_They will get out of t_ _he island and back_ _to Santa Monica_ _!_ _They will be out_ _!_ _All of them_ _._

She knew something was wrong when she saw how quickly Grant retired to his tent while Jason was trying to catch his attention. ( _Grant, wait a minute. Grant! Just hear me out,_ _bro!_ _)_ And not mentioning how pissed off they both looked. 

Just looking at them it made her feel a wave of tiredness coming over her and snuffling every remnant of energy she had. 

_Oh,_ ** _w_** ** _hat_** _the_ _heck_ _happened_ ** _n_** ** _ooo_** ** _ow_ ** _?_

Maybe if she wasn't so annoyed and so prideful, she would have let out a little exasperated whine. 

Daisy and Liza, thankfully, decided unanimously to take care of their boyfriends because even if herself and Oliver were their best friends – pretty much since diapers – they both had enough of their _‘_ _I-Have-The-Bigger-Dick'_ BS lately. 

It's been for a few days now that Jason and Grant didn't see eye to eye for some dumb reason neither of them wanted to share. 

And honestly it was ruining their morale. 

Hope just wanted constantly to be out there, no matter if she was alone or with either of them. At the beginning it was just because of her need to do something and not stand around like a darn houseplant. Now it was just to avoid being dragged in their stupid fights. ( _And_ _finding_ _Riley_ _… A_ _nd optionally shoot a pirate lord in_ _his private areas_ _after_ _throwing a rock in that pretty face_ _. OK, maybe more necessary than optionally_ _… Why in tarnation_ _he had_ _to be pretty?_ _Why_ _!_ _?_ _Darn pretty but sadistic people._ _)_

Daisy was just mad at everything since the _wreck_ they found in the cave (which apparently was Dr.Earnhardt 's; _that's a cute name: '_ _Agnes'_ _;_ _Jason later explained to her why he was so obsessed with the name_ _. She tried to be less_ _cold_ _to the man afterwards._ ) wouldn't want to work no matter how hard she tried to fix it with what she had on hand. It neither helped how she would get nervous over the idea of Grant not returning whenever he was out. 

Oliver will get more and more stoned to the point she stole from his stash. Just a little, day by day, enough in order for him to not figure it out but to still dwindle it. He was just so out of it all the time… It actually got her worried. 

Yes, she felt guilty but she honestly didn't know what else to do. She just prayed he won't figure it out any time soon. 

Keith… Keith was just acting… _bad_. But not the ‘ _A_ _lmighty_ _-_ _Douche_ ’ bad that she was accustomed to from Keith, more like… _unsettling_ bad. 

After Jason got him back from that washed-up – _with_ ** _shit_** _taste_ – _bastard_ , **_Buck_** , they had to run since Jason only managed to knock him out _after_ the coward called the pirates to save his ass. Hope would have questioned Keith’s state but she wasn't excited for the possibility that Montenegro might tag along to capture them. Not after she heard he got a murder boner when he was told of her escape. 

Yes… everyone was angry and/or horny on this island, apparently. But she was pretty terrified at the idea the insane pirate might get his hands on her again. 

“ _You know something,_ _her_ _mosa_ _?_ _You're really cute with all the ‘I'm-Wonder_ _-Motherfucking_ _-Woman’_ _performance_ _but just let me ask you this, let me ask you this_ _…_ _If_ _I_ _will turn_ _you into my pet_ _,”_ She would have slapped him for the humiliating soft caress of his hands upon her face if she wasn’t tied up to the darn chair. _“my little lovable pet_ _that_ _will_ _open up her legs for me_ _,_ _like the little_ _American_ _bitch you are_ _,_ _every time_ _, every time,_ _I_ _will come_ _back home_ _… would you still look at me like that?_ _Because it's impressive, it's really impressive_ _hermosa_ _, but it's getting boring_ _cariño_ _mio_ _. Understood_ _? It_ _get_ _s_ _really boring_ _amor_ _, and I don't like that._ _I don’t like that at all_ _guapa_ _._ _You showed me potential._ _Beautiful potential._ _Just like you._ _So_ _,_ _impress me, again. Again_ _,_ _and again and again."_ With a snicker and a forced open-mouthed kiss that left her spitting at him in disgust and curse him in all forms and manners she knew while he threw her a dreamy smile, she was dragged back to the shack she occupied from where she would later be rescued by Jason. 

Remembering that – and with a shiver she would rather die than acknowledge – she ran. 

After nearly reaching the cave she actually realized how bad Keith looked. He looked... like he went through hell and back and just a shell of what he once was remained. 

She really wanted to ask him what happened to him but remembering quickly all the sexual connotations Buck would make whenever he spoke to Jason… she got scared of asking him. She hated it… but she knew she shouldn’t ask him what Buck has done to him. She knew she couldn’t. 

So later that night, she gave him a hug saying everything will be normal once again after they get back home. He just hugged her back for a really long time until he fell asleep, not saying anything. She didn’t acknowledge how he trembled in her arms nor the wet spot on the back of her shirt. 

In exchange, Liza has been trying to support so much everyone in the group… that it backfired on her. 

Daisy would just get more annoyed since she would feel too coddled and with the cave just making her more stir crazy… it didn't help. 

Jason would just combustion out of nowhere and unfortunately, since she apparently _started_ it, whatever **_it_** is, Liza would take most of the brunt. 

It didn't help matters when Keith got saved and claimed that Riley was dead. Grant just went broody and quiet trying to think if their enemies gave any clues about Riley and Jason just started to act like a maniac swearing: he will kill all of them. When she heard him and afterwards saw how Liza reacted, she tried to stop her from talking immediately to Jason but Liza just shot her an annoyed look and continued. 

Hope tried at least. And the aftermath wasn't unexpected. Jason didn’t change much. 

“ _I can take care of you.”_

“ _Stop m_ _a_ _king_ ** _this_** _about_ ** _us_** _._ ” 

“ ** _What_ ** _are you talking about?”_

“ _My brother just died_ _, and I need to deal with it on my own._ ** _OK_ ** _?_ _”_

“ _OK_ _._ _I'll be here if you need_ _me.”_

And Jason… he just acted vile lately. Hope had a feeling Grant knew the real reason why but when she tried to talk with him whenever they were alone. He said it wasn't anything important and that Jason will just have to get over it. She feared that reason had to do something with the Rakyat and their _leader_. 

“But it already went on for a week and he is still acting like a violent moron, Chief.” She needed to know what was going on because even in the situation they are right now this was too much tension and it only made them fight more and more. And Jason would always be the one who started it. 

“Look Hotshot, we all know Liza and Jason had relationship problems since before we got here. We're all under stress and Jason just reacts worse than us. Just let him steam for a while.” She knew she was acting like a nosy child and she felt bad whenever Grant will plead to her to stop questioning it but she had enough. 

They had a minor staring match for a minute but Hope just gave up, giving him a sight and a grumbled “ _Fine.”_

With an amused grin he just told her “See, that wasn't so hard, right?” and gave her a hard backslap. She just threw him back a weak glare making him laugh. 

_Fine. I'll just speak some sense into_ _Ja_ _yJay_ _w_ _hen I get the opportunity._

After seeing how **both** Grant and Jason shot down Daisy and Liza’s attempts Hope knew it was now or never. This stupidity had to stop tonight. 

She let the atmosphere cool down for a bit. Afterwards she searched for Jason in the cave to get him out and see if she could get her plan in action. She soon located him by the bowl of ‘ _c_ _andy_ _’_ Dr. E left them in the cave, apparently coming down from whatever trip he induced upon himself. 

She tried to get rid of the bowl before but Jason, Oliver, Keith and **even** Daisy shot her a look that said ‘ _S_ _tay_ _!_ _the fuck a_ _way_ _!_ _from it_ ’. 

_OK, chill out guys. Geez._

Anyway, it was better he was now calmer than before. It made talking easier. She approached him. 

“Hey there JayJay. Came back from wonderland?” 

He suddenly realized she was there even if she had been waving her arm in his face for a while now and with the same teenage smug smile he sported since 15 he mimicked having a phone call. 

“Hey Houston. Yeah, we've got a problem again. Hotshot still believes she’s funny even if she couldn't crack a joke to save her life.” He returned to her with a big impish smile that she just wanted to wipe off his face. Preferably with a multitude of pebbles. In exchange she just threw him a sickly-sweet smile that got his grin to turn from annoying to nervous. _Good._

“OK. Since I see you are soooo occupied with your conversation I think I will take these **cold** beer bottles I've been keeping for a while and crack a _goooood_ old cold one with Grant. Bye bye then.” She counted back from ten in her head before Jason actually sobered up and intercepted her. 

**_5… 4… 3… 2…_** ** _1…_ **

Hope got turned back by her shoulder ( _Rude.)_ and she faced him, a bit too much in her private space bubble but she ignored it and saw him nervously trying to come up with something smart. 

“So… where do you want to go? Up the cliff?” If she wouldn't have felt the slight desperation in his voice, she would have just continued with her uninterested stance but… that just told her that both JayJay and Chief were hiding something from them. And that Jason didn’t want for her to hear it from Grant. 

Chief couldn't lie to save his life when he was drunk, after all. 

Taking a look at his face she let out a sad sight and in a low voice said: “You never kept secrets from me and Noll, Jay…” 

“What did you say?” 

“That I was thinking of going further. Maybe Orphan Point or the Valsa Docks? The cave has been closing in on me lately and you know how I am when feeling claustrophobic. And I rather be away from it all for at least one single night? Please?” She didn't want to sound needy but most of the time it worked in getting Jason to do as she asked without complaints. Yes, it was bad but she really needed to understand what the hell was going on and not be interrupted. Hopefully there were no poker games or leopards around. Or the Rakyat. Better if there were no Rakyat around. 

She just always had a bad feeling about them. They reminded her of a cult and she didn’t like how their deity was an actual flesh and blood person. And that _person_ , _Citra_ _Talugmai_ _,_ didn't even want to acknowledge anyone _besides_ Jason. Not even Grant and he should be an excellent ‘ _warrior_ ’ in her eyes. And she didn't even want to hear about Hope from what Grant told her. The only thing she was interested in about Hope apparently was that Montenegro had some kind of infatuation or obsession over her. And she hated it. She hated Montenegro ’s guts, she had chills whenever the Rakyat were mentioned, she despised Buck, she loathed Hoyt, she wanted to **hurt** that awful stinky nitwit, Doug, who set them up and sometimes she was just annoyed with Jason and herself since she accepted to take this skydive _experience_. _Lying_ _shady smelly_ _bastard, if I ever see you again_ _,_ _I swear I_ \- 

“Hey, Hope?” The voice of Jason caught her attention and she broke out of her train wreck of thoughts quickly. He looked a bit worried. 

“You alright?” 

_Shit._

“Yeah, I'm fine. So, what do you say?” They both knew she was just trying to change the subject and fortunately Jason wasn't nosey enough yet. Surely, he will ask her after she had a couple of beers. Either way, they needed to discuss about stuff. 

“Valsa since we only need a car to get there and in case we do get drunk, we can always walk back. Do the rest know about this?” 

_Wow, Jason._ ** _Now_** _the opinions of the rest actually matter to you?_

“Nope. Chief is ignoring everyone. Daisy is trying to repair the boat with the new parts you guys brought. Noll was getting high. Keith is resting in his tent. And Liz… I think she was reading a book. Anyway, I just wanted to be us, you know? Like in the old times, when we would sneak out of the house, find some deserted ditch and get drunk?” 

_Like how you would go with Vince after I left?_

Of course, she didn't say that aloud. How could she? Neither her or Jason were good at mourning. And she didn't want at all to start now a fight with Jason. It was completely unnecessary. 

_Why did I spare the bastard? Why did_ _I save him_ _? Why do you have to be such a goody two shoes Hope for_ _PETE_ _’S_ ** _SAKE_ ** _? I_ _f you wouldn't have done it Vince most likely would still be alive right now_ _!_

“Cool then. Let's go.” And he began to push her towards the entrance/exit of the cave. Fortunately enough, no one asked them where they were going… Just Liza threw them an inquisitive look but she didn't stop them. 

_Are_ _things that bad between them?_

So off they went. They didn't speak while they were in the Scavenger but it was nice. It felt… quite nostalgic. She was watching how quickly they were passing by everything and thankfully they didn't meet with any Rakyat patrol cars. She felt Jason’s gaze on her sometimes but whenever she would glance back at him, he would be looking straight at the road. 

It made her remember trips from before. When they would just go wherever to just jab about whoever pissed them off so badly and drink with Noll. Sometimes with Riley, sometimes with Grant before he enlisted and became a stickler for discipline. While in High School they used to shoot the breeze with Ryan, Daphne ( _Did they even_ _realize_ _they went missing?)_ and Noll. And when Jason entered Cal Tech, Noll got pulled in the world of his parents and she went to Yale… they just stopped. 

They would talk a lot on the phone at the beginning ( _Maman_ _and Mrs_ _._ _Brody_ _were_ _not happy at all about the phone bill)_ taking jabs at each other and talking about their experiences. Noll was preoccupied with the parties his mother would host and school. But then they all began to go to parties, meet new people, learn how to survive exams period and slowly the calls would be fewer and fewer. At one point Jason met Liza and Hope met Lewis, Jack, Beth and so many other flings. Before, nobody would have guessed that Jason was the committing type and Hope, the one who would go from fling to fling. While Jason was having the best relationship with Liza, or at least that's what she heard from Noll, she was stuck into Deja vu. Most of the time she would break up with people either because she would be too preoccupied with her studies and she considered the fling a waste of time for both parties or that initial feeling she got would just quickly die out. 

_Or maybe she was too picky._ _Yes, that's a better explanation._

Even after she came back to Santa Monica and saw how everyone lived well enough without her… she just faded in the background. More or less willingly. She was surprised when Riley actually called her and told her about the trip. Seeing as Jason had no actual interest in her agreement, she wanted to decline but after Grant also asked her… she just wanted for things to be like before… she guessed. Or at least for a little while just to feel like back then. 

She didn't feel bad she went to Bangkok, she had fun, the only thing that annoyed her is that she accepted so easily Jason's request to skydive. He came up with the BS reason it will help with her fear of heights ( _Which is still there actually; God, she_ _wanted to barf whenever_ _the radio towers_ _were mentioned_ _)_.

She initially wanted to refuse but seeing Jason so excited to include her – something that he didn't show for the rest of the trip until that certain moment in the elevator with everyone else. So, against her better judgment she went along with it. Yes, Riles and Noll insisted also but she should have just agreed with Chief. Yes, the rest would have acted like whiney babies until the end of the trip and Jason most likely would have called her a coward ( _which she was not)_ but if she knew the outcome... she would have done everything in her power to stop it. 

Even if Jason would have completely distanced himself from her afterwards. 

It would have been worth it in order to avoid this Hell on Earth. 

They finally reached the Docks and she quickly snapped out of her reveries. She took out her hunting knife, cautious, just in case. Maybe they had liberated the outpost but between being intimidated by the Rakyat and that the jungle apparently had a life of it's own and just wanted to kill them… she just wanted to not feel cornered immediately. 

“Hey, relax Hotshot. We liberated this place remember? Besides, isn't this what we came for? To chillax?” She hated it but he was right. They essentially came to have a good time. Yet she still didn’t drop her guard. 

“OK, how about we just get near the water and just walk along the shore. And until it gets dark, I can carry some firewood and we end up drinking, warmed up by a bonfire?” He lifted her chin up trying to make her look into his eyes. She tried to keep her eyes on their surroundings but Jason persevered and captured her whole attention while also guiding her hand to put back her weapon of choice. 

He threw her that smug grin she remembered and cherished since they were teens and as if the fool knew – _of course he knew,_ _he knows_ _Hope like the back of his hand_ – he added: “It's not Dockweiler but I think it's good enough, right?” The remark actually got a couple of giggles out due to the avalanche of memories. 

“Yeah, you're right. At least here you won't be scared a plane is going to crush us because they couldn't see us!” The offended look on his face only made her giggle more until it evolved into a healthy laugh when he just tried to catch her and silence her somehow. 

“I was 10, OK? And it was Grant's fault for telling us that scary story he came up with.” Now Hope nearly had tears in her eyes remembering a 10-year-old Jason trying to appease the ghosts of the haunted airplane that would fall on them by dancing the chicken dance and afterwards throwing himself naked in the sea while screaming ‘I'm just a sea corn dog, you can't take me!’. And finishing with a high-pitched battle cry. 

“Oh God, you were sooo naive! Did Grant keep the video cassette? Please tell me he did!” For some reason she really needed to have the guarantee that that certain cassette will live on for generations. 

Jason watched her for a few seconds confused and when she saw the terror of the realization strike him, she froze in place, watching him, trying to keep herself in check. 

“Hope… what cassette?” And then she couldn't keep her composure any longer. She sprinted trying to get the farthest away from Jason's incoming interrogation while laughing. 

“Hope! What cassette?! What the fuck did Grant record?! Hope?! Hope!” The desperation in his voice was too much for Hope, making her laugh constantly and thus being easier to catch by an adrenaline/terror/embarrassment fueled Jason Brody. Thankfully she had half a mind to drop the cooler before she got tackled by him. 

She let out a squeak out of surprise and Jason let a roar of triumph get out of his chest while also letting his body support itself on his hands and knees. She already kissed the floor; he must have figured she didn’t need his weight too to suffocate her. 

Hope turned on her back still half laughing, half breathing hard to get back sweet air in her lungs when she figured in what insinuating position they were. She quickly turned into a tomato and was going to push herself up until she met Jason's gaze. 

She didn't know if she actually ever saw him that serious in their entire life. Maybe when they were liberating outposts. But never watching her expression like this. Transfixed as if nothing else mattered in the world. As if it was only the two of them on a private beach and there were no dangers lurking around, ready to pounce on them at the smallest indication of weakness. 

And she couldn’t stop herself from observing him either. Even if a pirate or Rakyat would spawn out of nowhere besides them. 

His eyes that turned so hypnotic out of nowhere – _were they always_ _so_ _green_ _? So entrancing?_ His unkempt stubble that got worse after nearly 5 weeks spent in this hell – _was it as_ _rough as she believed it_ _was?_ _She was just curious. Yeah._ That unruly hair that no matter how much Mrs. Brody would try to comb it when they were younger would only stay fixed for only a half an hour – _she missed_ _it,_ _messing it up even more whenever he would try to style it. I_ _t was soft_ _but spiky_ _in_ _High School_ _._ _How_ _would it feel now to r_ _un her fingers through it?_ His taut body which she couldn't help but acknowledge that the sport she practiced only helped him keep himself in good form since they were teenagers – _she couldn’t claim anymore he was cute… Handsome was_ _a_ _more fitting word. It took her a while to_ _accept it_ _._

_Those_ _dry chapped_ _lips…_

It took her too long to realize his face was actually approaching hers and that by now they were actually sharing their breaths. Scared, she pushed him off her breaking whatever spell they were both bound by and quickly rose up. He looked a bit baffled at her but she didn’t want to deem what nearly happened few moments ago. It didn’t happen. That’s what mattered. 

She offered him a hand to get up. 

“Sorry, but I really have no idea what Chief did with the cassette. If you owe me a favor _maaaybe_ I will ask him about it. Still up for that walk?” She threw him a confident smile while at it. 

_Sorry Jay but I'm no cheater._

She really didn't want to get involved in such a mess. They already had enough on their plate and while Liza was sweet, she could also be really violent when she felt like she needed to. And they were not friends either. 

Neither of them was friendly to each other and Hope had no intention to try again. She tried once at the beginning and she thought they hit it off well but after a while Liza did a 180 and didn't want to speak to Hope any longer. 

_Oh well, I couldn’t care less_ _as long as she keeps it civil._

Jason seemingly reordered his thoughts and took her offered hand. Not looking at her anymore he went after the cooler and it just gave her a pang of sadness that went straight to her heart. 

She didn't feel bad. No way. He was with someone who was an actual nice person and she had commitment issues (and an infatuated bastard, that she saved and flirted with for some dumb reason for which she will forever identify as mentally challenged, on her tail that only wanted Jason dead). And even if they did something… which was something Hope would never pursue, once they got back home, what? They would stay friends and never speak about it ever again? They would completely alienate each other? Would they actually-? 

_No, don’t even think_ _about that scenario. It’s impossible. Jason and Liza_ _love_ _each other. They_ _deserve_ _to be happy together._ _They just have a rough patch right now._ _They lasted this long. Jason_ _just_ _wouldn’t_ _do that to Liza, to_ _her_ _._

_And_ _you_ _still have_ ** _some_** _morals_ _._

He returned to her side and gave her back the cooler. She didn't want to deem any importance to how their fingers lingered for a hot minute. Jason looked as if he wanted to tell her something but decided otherwise quickly. They started to walk along the shore. 

The first few minutes spent in silence felt awkward but soon, somehow, it just felt natural. Just like those night walks that became almost like a ritual they used to do whenever life used to hit them like a brick wall. Nights either spent in silence or sometimes making fun of their, at the time, dramas. She suddenly remembered how they would walk holding hands. Or Jason with an arm around her shoulder, keeping her close to him to give her some of his warmth while Hope would snuggle close to him and swing her arms around his torso, side-hugging him and walking at the same time, no matter how awkward it felt moving. It seemed like a lifetime ago. 

_And stupidly enough she always missed it._

As if reading her mind, or maybe feeling melancholic himself, while carrying the random dry sticks they saw nearby during their walk with his right hand, he took her right hand into his and they continued as if nothing happened. It started off as a normal hand grab, his own hand swallowing her smaller one, not gripping it with strength enough to hurt her but enough to make her feel secure, protected but maybe Jason felt impulsive – nothing new actually – and tangled his fingers with her own. No longer two kids ready to turn the world into their own oyster. A more… intimate kind of hold. 

_“J-Jason_ _!... Please…_ _A-ah..._ _Uhm_ _…"_

_“Y_ _ou_ _look_ _so… cute Hope…_ _Ah…_ _A-ah_ _…_ _I promised, right?..._ _I_ _will-Hah… ah_ _… ah_ _…_ _Take ca-care of you…_ _Oh shit… You feel like… heaven…”_

She quickly discarded the embarrassing memory and at least Jason did her the favor to ignore her raging blush while he took glances of her. And as awful as she felt about it, she couldn’t stop their hand holding. She **didn’t** want to. More so, when he began caressing her hand with his calloused thumb that felt so foreign and at the same time so familiar. 

She felt really lonely for a while now. She wanted – _needed –_ someone’s affection. And the island just made matters worse. Maybe if they were back home, but here?... She couldn’t run away from Jason here. She couldn’t search pleasure with someone else here. And no, she wouldn’t even consider the pirate lord even if they were the last people on Earth. Even if he was so pretty. 

Lost in her thoughts Hope didn’t realize the sun was setting. She sobered up when Jason began to drag her away from the shore and told her to wait for a bit while he began to make the campfire. Thankfully they found the remains of a previous campfire and they didn’t need to search for stones around the premises. Taking into consideration where they were, she asked politely for Jason's camera and turning the night vision on, she tried to see if there was anyone or anything else around that might disturb them or straight out attack them. She didn’t saw anybody or any predator around but she still felt insecure. It seemed too peaceful to be true. 

When Jason finally started the fire, she took out a blanket from her backpack, sets it down and brings out some salty snacks she found in Doctor Earnhardt’s kitchen cupboards and the, thankfully, still cold bears from the cooler. She had to find so many plants and exchange them for 4 six packs. But it was worth it. 

Remembering quickly what she came here to do she shot Jason a confident smile while presenting him one of the bottles. 

“Do you need a special invitation or something, JayJay?” 

She liked hearing him chuckle. That was no lie. He took the bottle from her hand and opened it with his pocket knife. He did the same with hers, handed it back to her and raised up his own. 

“I just had a slight flashback to your 17th birthday. When we all sneaked out that night to light up fireworks in the creek? We managed to sneak a couple of 12 packs and that smart-ass, Ryan, brought weed? Daphne managed to sneak a whisky bottle from her parent’s liquor cabinet… And Ollie brought a couple of fireworks that I’m pretty sure weren’t even legal. It was fun.”

Remembering that night a wave of tiredness suddenly hit her, making her let out a sigh which turned Jason’s grin into a smirk. 

“Yes… how fun trying to hide wherever you can from the cops that were vigilant because it’s just been 4th of July and one of your best friends nearly started a fire with faulty fireworks. Trying to understand how they didn’t find us while Ryan and Noll were high and Daphne was half drunk, half freaking out that we will be caught and her parents will figure out she was not at my house. And you were drunk. So yeah, still wondering how we didn’t get arrested.” 

_Yes, fun times._

“In my defense we had you, the ‘ _responsible_ _adult'_ on shift. I knew we were going to be fine.” She nearly wanted to smack him from remembering. Also, from seeing him snicker. 

_Responsible_ _equal_ _the only one with a working brain_ _, right_ _?_

“As a lawyer I think that’s one of the worst defenses I ever heard. And as a normal person I just find you annoying as heck.” 

The snort should have angered her more but she just rolled her eyes and took a sip from her beer. 

**_How_** _does he turn me in_ _to_ _such a pushover?_ ** _HOW_ ** _?_

They began to talk afterwards about how some of the outposts they already liberated got recaptured by the pirates ( _the incompetence_ _of those ‘warriors'_ _nearly triggered_ _her_ _while the_ _pirates actually impressed her somehow_ _with how organized they_ _were_ ), how they would get back said outposts ( _even if he hated the idea_ _she had to scout once again those areas_ _,_ _putting herself in danger_ _– she didn’t mention that once when she was_ _out scouting with Grant, Buck nearly caught her_ _but Grant saved her_ _butt from nearly being abducted by shooting near Buck with his sniper rifle and she pulled_ _Osoto-gari_ _on him (she did Judo for a reason but she must have been rusty if she didn’t actually killed him) and ran_ _– yet_ _Hope and Grant both agreed_ _that a stealthy approach was_ _far_ _better_ _and thus they needed a scout, and the best of them to pass_ _unnoticed was her_ _since she was smaller_ ), what they missed the most from back home ( _Jason being a simple man he didn’t miss anything_ _besides the_ _hamburgers and his gaming console while_ _Hope missed her_ _puppies_ _, showers_ _, actual health care and_ _most of all_ _… French Fries_ _; she was addicted to them, she knew._ _Fortunately_ _,_ _she found gum. No_ _cherry or even strawberry_ _flavored but_ _mint was good enough_.), what they would do once they got back ( _He said he actually had no idea although she noted him averting his eyes from_ _hers_ _– the_ _action_ _telling her Jason was lying – while she answered that most likely_ _she’ll_ _try to find a therapist and_ _spend time with her half siblings_ ). 

By now Jason had already started his fifth beer while she was still on her third and she noticed he already went tipsy. 

_Now or never._

“So, any ideas why Chief is so irritable lately? I can't even approach him these days without fearing for my life.” It was a really big exaggeration; Grant was just being grumpy but he was still considerate. Hope just needed to somehow push the discussion towards where she needed it to go. And apparently, she was getting there. 

“Yeah, that’s right! He is just sooo stuck up. He doesn't want to listen to anyone! Because he enlisted, he suddenly knows it all! Right?! Right. Well, he is wrong.” He drank the rest of the bottle adding the comment of “ _God, this beer is awful.”_

“Waaait, wait, wait, wait. Wait. What is he wrong about? About him acting like a know-it-all? Because you're like… 20 years late on getting accustomed to that.” She let a giggle and hoped that this was the reason the brothers were so highly strung lately. 

“No, no, no, no. Ha ha. No. I know my brother very well. Ha. He… He thinks he's right about what he thinks of the Rakyat, you know?” Hearing the name of the tribe just brought her chills. She let go of her bottle and rubbed her arms to make the chills go away. 

Seeing this, Jason, the white knight – although blood knight would have been more fitting considering how they lately lived their lives – he was, just pulled her by her hips right next to him – _her back to his chest –_ and closer to the fire. She was just a motion away from just sitting in his lap. She couldn’t get away either since his arm was swung around her, making her unable to just distance herself from him without figuring her out. 

“Hey, you need to tell me if you're cold.” He threw her an inquisitive look and after he saw she stopped rubbing her arms he gave her a little smile that just made her stare a while at him, enchanted. She will definitely fault the beer later. 

“OK.” Was that meek voice hers? 

“Good.” He continued to watch her with that little smile as if it was the happiest moment he had in a while now... He should be showing a smile like this to Liza… Not her... 

She averted her gaze away from his and tried to retake their previous conversation. 

“Anyway, uhm, what's going on with the Rakyat? What did Grant say about them?” Just by the somber look Jason took she knew she won’t like his answer.

“Well… He just said they are trying to manipulate us. Make us fight their war for them. That somehow Citra changed me into someone he couldn’t recognize anymore.” She saw he wanted to continue but that he needed her affirmation she understood. She gave him a nod. 

“At the beginning I just went with the flow… We needed to find you guys and manage together to escape. I didn’t tell you but when we escaped, me and Grant, after you took that bullet for Grant… Does it still hurt?” 

“No. No. Don't worry. The pirates made Earnhardt take care of it at the beginning. He did an excellent job.” _By Montenegro's_ _orders._ But she was not going to mention that since Jason was easily irritated whenever the pirate lord was mentioned. She remembered how she woke up in a dark room on a chair and she managed to escape by lockpicking with one of her hair clips ( _her onyx hair, her black hair clips keeping her long_ _hair in place, the night,_ _her dark green tracksuit_ _jacket and her black jeans_ _,_ _everything was in her favor_ _…_ _until it wasn't_ ) the lock of her cage, that resulted to be a shack ( _wooo_ _, premium treatment_ ), and she sneaked away, being careful to not be detected. 

♤♡◇♧♤♡◇♧♤♡◇♧♤♡◇♧♤♡◇♧♤♡◇♧♤♡◇♧♤♡◇♧♤♡◇♧ 

She was thankful she managed to not yelp loud enough when she saw the pirate kill those poor hostages while giving that awful monologue about family. 

She nearly got out of the camp too. Then she saw Grant and Jason studying some paper – ‘ _it_ _looks_ _like_ _a map'_ _,_ her brain supplied – crouched. She wanted to attract their attention when she saw the mad pirate from before preparing to shoot the boys. Just as if it was instinctual, she sprinted and leaped to push them from the gunfire. The bullet that should have got to Grant, got lodged in her left side in exchange. 

Then chaos ensued. 

The pirate got mad over her escape and asked her how stupid can she be to throw herself in the way of a bullet. She was bleeding really hard for some reason but she quickly was grabbed by her arm and told to run. And run she did. 

It was Grant that grabbed her. Then she can only remember more screaming and gunfire and she guessed those pirates were shooting at them. At one point she just tripped and kissed the jungle floor. From what she remembered Grant was trying to stop the bleeding while Jason, panicking, was looking around for pirates. Hope thought Grant said to Jason she was entering into shock and then he instructed him to pressure the wound with the clean part of her jacket. Goodbye favorite tracksuit jacket. You will be sorely missed. 

“ _Hope, stay awake. We'll get you help. You need to stay awake. Fuck_ _!_ _Talk to me Hope._ _I'm sorry for ignoring you_ _!_ _Please speak to me. I'm so sorry!_ _I need to tell you lots of things but I need you to resist_ _!_ _Stay awake, Hope. Hope_ _, please_ _!_ _Please!"_

She remembers seeing him cry. She lifted her hands to his face and he froze once he recognized in the sea of panic her caress upon his cheeks. She was wiping away his tears. She didn’t like to see him sad. Not her Jason. It reminded her of when his father died and he kept on crying. She hated seeing him cry. She just wanted to see him happy. 

There were suddenly screams once again. From the pirates. Jason tried to pull her up but she resisted. Grant came over running telling them to hurry up but she was tired. Too tired. She knew she was slowly dying and that she was just a burden that will most likely push them to their deaths. She wasn't afraid of dying. Just worried she will slow them down. 

“ _Grant_ _,_ _take Jason and go._ _”_

“ _Shut it_ _Hotshot_ _and just walk. You'll be fine.”_ She hated it when neither Jason or Grant were listening to her. 

_“_ _Grant. I'm dying and you know it."_ Her jacket was really bloody. Not even bleach could save it. She wondered how bad her white tank top looked. Fortunately, Grant stayed silent and Jason was panicking once again. 

_“Jason._ _Look at_ _my face_ _, nothing else."_ She really, really tried to put a smile right now just to not look scared. But her own tears really didn’t help. While she was still caressing his face, wiping away the tears, he was still applying force to her wound, trying to stop the flow of blood. He finally looked at her. 

_“Jason… promise me you'll tell mom and my siblings I love them and that I'm sorry."_ She heard more gunshots but she was not concerned. The only thing that mattered right now was to come clean. 

_“Don't be stupid_ _Hope. You’re_ _going to_ _tell them_ _that y_ _ourself_ _._ _“_

His panic was getting to her but she remained strong. Her grandpas would be proud. 

_“J_ _ason, just promise me. Please.”_

After a second of silence, he just added one of his smart retorts: “ _You do reali_ _z_ _e Alex is going to kill me, Grant and everyone_ _else_ _on this_ _island, right?”_ She wanted to add about how it's not her problem and laugh but her torso hurt too much. In exchange, she looked deep in Jason’s eyes and smiled. 

“ _I_ _love you_ _. Sorry for not telling you._ _Now_ _leave_ _._ _Please._ ” It was done. She had a lot of regrets left but at least she told him the truth. 

Jason just looked at her bewildered. Only after Grant came back, with an AK he must have stolen from the pirates, to drag him away did he leave. Then she was alone. Not for long enough. 

“ _Vaas_ _!_ _We found the girl! She's bleeding a lot.”_ _She_ kept quiet, wishing not to satisfy their sadistic needs. The walkie-talkie came back to life. 

_“_ _FUCK!_ _Bring her_ _back_ _right fucking now or I'll_ _feed you to the_ _fucking_ _tigers_ _!_ ** _NOW_** _MOTHERFUCKERS!”_ At the moment she just thought the bastard must have wanted her to suffer even in her last moments but she felt too weak to resist as they pulled her away from the tree that supported her. She was brought back to the pirate camp but couldn’t remember that much afterwards. It was all foggy. The only thing she could remember was more screaming, than silence and somebody holding her hand really tight. Confused, she held the hand as hard as she could to assure whoever it was that everything will be fine. 

Then a few days later, from what she had been told she was in and out constantly, she woke up in the middle of the night in a bed right besides someone. Scared and angry she tried to get away but apparently the bastard was still awake. He dragged her right under him and straddled her hips while he held her wrists locked together with one of his hands. He was strong, she was hurt, so the only thing she felt like she could do was glare at him with all the vitriol she had. He chuckled and ordered someone named Carlos to switch the lights on. 

Until that moment she never managed to get a clear view of his face and she was glad. Because otherwise she would have started to hate herself more a long time ago. 

It was the same guy she found unconscious and bloody on the beach when she got lost from everyone while skydiving. She immediately applied CPR on him seeing as he didn’t respond to her and he was wet. After a few sets of chest compressions and her trying to give him artificial ventilation he woke up, vomiting the sea water he must have ingested. She told him to stay calm while she disinfected the wounds she could immediately see and applied bandages to them. He stared at her in wonder and she jokingly added ‘ _Take a picture. It will last longer._ ’ While throwing him her famous winning smile. He still starred at her as if bewitched and at some point, she felt weirded out about it. Just a little. Maybe he didn’t know English. She only applied bandages to his head even though she feared he might have a concussion and she bandaged his left hand since it had a nasty looking cut. She also applied new band aids to his right - hand fingers since the old ones were coming off. She was glad she packed her mini aid kit in her hip bag since she feared Jason or one the guys would get hurt doing something stupid and she had a hunch the island where they ended up didn’t had ambulances. When she finished him up, she was about to make him a few questions to check if he was able to function but then she heard Jason and the others screaming her name. She quickly got up and the weird guy mumbled something but she wasn’t able to hear it. She told him she had to go but that she will tell her trip guide to get help for him and afterwards added he must wait put in order to find him. Then jokingly for the dumb reason that she thought he was handsome and pretty she told him " _Oh_ _,_ _and_ _please_ _don’t worry about the lipstick. I kind of had to kiss you_ _to resuscitate you... But I will also take it as payment_ _for my supplies_ _._ _See_ _you_ _,_ _handsome.”_ She took a last glance at him and seeing him blush, took it as a victory, and ran towards the group. Jason was the first to reach her and she was about to chew his head off for how scared she was when he pushed her before jumping but then she saw men dressed in red with AKs come out of the jungle and point them towards the group. Her and Jason were soon pushed towards the group by some ugly red dude but she tried to kick him in his shin. She was rewarded with the butt of a rifle to the head and later on woke up in the shed. 

While she was remembering the bastard didn’t snap her out of her reverie and was studying her with – here she got really baffled – _reverence._ She soon tried to wiggle out of his grip or at least push him off her for a bit but her wound began to hurt and she hissed through her teeth at the pain. Then the bastard ( _why did he have to be pretty? Why?)_ grabbed her chin and began to shush her. 

“ _Shh_ _,_ _shh_ _, it's OK_ _hermosa_ _. You’re OK. You’re still alive._ _You_ _tried_ _to leave my island but no_ _,_ _no_ _,_ _no_ _,_ _no_ _,_ _no_ _,_ _you can’t,_ _OK?_ _You can’t._ _I won’t allow_ _it_ _._ _Tu_ _me_ _salvaste_ _amor_ _y_ _ahora_ _es_ _mi_ _turno_ _curarte_ _,_ _entendido_ _mi_ _cielo_ _?_ _Joder_ _,_ _tus_ _ojos_ _se_ _parecen_ _al_ _cielo_ _durante_ _la_ _noche_ _. Tan bonitos,_ _como_ _tu_ _guapa_ _._ _Now, who do we have here? Who do we have_ _here_ _Carlos?”_ His head inched a bit in the direction of his subordinate but his eyes – just like those of a cat ready to devour a mouse – were locked on hers and she hated they were a lovely _green_ – _just like Jason, just like_ _Maman_ – and the Cheshire Cat grin he sported made him look even more sexy but it only fueled her spite and wrath. She only glared at him, keeping quiet, hating herself for actually saving this asinine brute. 

“ _Hope Celine_ _Lumiours_ _?_ _American._ _26 years old._ _Born in_ _Quebec_ _, Canada._ _”_

_“Half_ _american_ _half_ _c_ _anadian_ _?_ _Or full_ _canadian_ _,_ _preciosa_ _?_ _”_ She only continued to glare at him in silence not bothering herself to answer him. He didn’t like it. 

“ _Oh no,_ _no,_ _no,_ _no,_ _no_ _. No,_ _hermosa_ _. When I ask you a question you answer me, understood?_ _OK? I know you’re not mute since you talked to me_ _,_ _with that lovely voice of yours_ _,_ _on the beach._ _So you better start speaking otherwise I'll go outside_ _, take one of your friends,_ _AND SLICE HIM OPEN LIKE I DID WITH_ _YOUR_ _OTHER_ _FRIEND?!"_ Shocked, afraid they got Jason or Grant after they escaped and executed them, her vitriol was once again renewed as she spat the words. 

“ _Half_ _american_ _half f_ _rench_ _._ _There is your answer. Who did you kill?”_

_“Oh_ _,_ _mi_ _ángel_ _, as cute as you look mad it really doesn't do you any_ _favors_ _._ _And I’m making the questions, understood? I'm making the questions_ _._ _Also, I’m going to keep that passport_ _, OK? I really like that photo. You look really cute_ _in it_ _._ _Now… do you have a boyfriend or something_ _princesa_ _?_ _Do you have a family_ _that_ _loves you? I want details. Oh_ _,_ _and Carlos, you can fuck off now. I want to be alone with my lovely guest."_ She heard as the other man opened and closed the door and left them alone, without another word. Now as much as she wanted to fight back, she knew she couldn’t. His grip upon her wrists was still strong but at least it didn’t hurt her. And she worried that her wound would open up again if she moved too much and her attempt would result worthless. The only thing she could do was glare at him and evaluate the situation as it went. 

“ _OK now_ _amor_ _. There’s no one else. We can speak as freely and as much as I want, OK?_ _Now answer me_ _or else I can always go outside and do as promised._ ” She wasn’t going to lie since she accepted the fact she will die here. But she wasn’t going to make her family pay for a pointless rescue. Thinking about it she was glad she changed her family name to her mother's maiden name. She honestly didn’t want to involve her siblings – the family of her father – in this. At least not yet. She hoped her mother, her grandparents and her Godfather won’t pay anything either but she doubted it. 

“ _No boyfriend or girlfriend._ _And my family_ _\- “_ _She_ froze when his hot hand left her chin and began to glide over her skin from her neck to playing with the strings of her bikini. Then she realized she only had on her black fitted jeans, her red with little white flowers patterned bikini top and the bandage wrapping her torso. _Shit,_ _shit,_ _shit,_ _shit_ _-_

“ _Yes_ _,_ _c’mon, continue._ ” He got bored of playing with the strings and just giving a quick glance to her chest while licking his lips, he quickly returned to watch her face and glide his hand up her arm until he reached her hands. After he pried her fingers open, he intermingled her fingers with his and closed his hand around hers. He just continued to give her that devilish smile while she was losing her mind. She remembers wondering if he wanted to rape her or if he developed a hero complex around her, along with lots of ‘ _The_ _fuck?'_ and ‘ _Get the fuck off_ _!_ ’. 

“ _I… haven’t talked in_ _months_ _with my family_ _.”_ It was true but she wanted to keep the important details to herself. How her parents were divorced, her mother was in a business trip in Europe, one of her uncles worked at Interpol and that her siblings would just buy her for cheaper and most likely demand the pirate's death for shooting her. It served to have psychotic family members sometimes. The fine art of sarcasm. 

“ _Hmm, I understand. I understand,_ _hermosa_ _._ _I also hate my family_ _._ _That manipulating_ _whore of a_ _half-_ _sister I have._ _But no worries. You're_ _safe with me_ _hermosa_ _.”_

Hearing that she couldn’t help but throw him an inquisitive look, indirectly asking him if he was joking with her or he was saying the truth. 

“ _S_ _orry_ _but I think only my friends could make me feel safe right now._ _So I wouldn’t mind if you threw me in whatever cage you also threw them._ _”_ At the time she thought if only she could be reunited with the others maybe they would be able to plan an escape together. 

“ _Oh is that so,_ _amor_ _?_ _And what about your friends, huh?_ _Those pathetic useless fucks._ _One of my men told me when they captured you that you were really close with one of them._ _I think he was one of the guys that escaped_ _, t_ _hanks to you_ _acting_ _stupid_ _?_ ” She froze for a second at his remark and he must have felt it since he gripped her wrists with more force than before. A warning to not lie to him. 

At least she got somehow the confirmation they still haven’t been captured. She didn’t question if they were alive because she knew it. She just did. She believed in the both of them. Grant and Jason will get out and bring help. 

With a new confidence, she gave him a sardonic smile while still glaring at him. It took him by surprise but quickly recovered starting to study her again, trying to comprehend what he must have said to give her confidence. At least he lost that annoying grin. 

“ _Oh,_ ** _Jason_** _?_ _What about_ _him_ _?”_ Maybe it was bad to put the spotlight over JayJay but for some reason the pirate looked quite annoyed and she did like to play with fire, literally and metaphorically. 

“ _Why the fuck did you protect him if he's not your boyfriend_ _, huh,_ _amor_ _? And don’t_ ** _tell_** _me because he’s your fucking_ ** _friend_** ** _,_** _OK_ _?_ ” The question came out of nowhere in her opinion and just told her the pirate was actually jealous, over what she felt about Jason. She kept her confusion to herself though. 

“ _Because I_ ** _care_** _about_ ** _him_** _._ _When I saved_ ** _you_** _I just did it out of_ ** _morality_** _but I helped Jason because I_ ** _actually_** _care about_ _him. Does_ ** _this_** _serve as an answer_?” 

She thought it did not when he started to kiss her brutally and began to grope her wherever he pleased, maybe to illicit some response from her. When she kept her mouth shut, he just touched her wound making her cry out in pain and his tongue entered her mouth. It was disgusting. He tasted like cigarettes and wine and something else, something sweet, but she couldn’t put a finger on what it was. He tried to tease her with his tongue and rubbing his hips against hers – _oh shit, he was actually hard_ – trying to make her respond but she only remained motionless, scared that he will force himself upon her and puzzled over what did this all meant. He wasn’t going to just sell her, was he? 

He finished the… _kiss_ when they were both out of breath and just separated a few inches, sharing puffs of air between each other and their foreheads touching; her watching him with a blank expression and him with a dreamy one. To her horror he was still rubbing his hips against hers. 

“ _You said it… on the beach_ _amor_ _mio_ _._ _You kissed me to resuscitate me and_ _as payment for your supplies…_ _but I didn’t consider it enough_ _,_ _you know._ _No_ _, you came like an angel_ _from_ _up there, from_ _the_ _skies_ _and rushed to my side_ _,_ ** _to my side_** _to save_ ** _me_** _._ _My men told me._ _And don’t worry_ _preciosa_ _,_ _I_ _beat to death the guy who put you to sleep. No one will treat you like that again_ _, OK?_ _”_ He just ignored her puzzled expression while stroking her face. 

“ _Why did you kill him? He was doing his job, right_ _? So_ _,_ _I don't understand…_ _I'm not… special._ ” 

“ _Well,_ _my men are_ _not allowed to_ _damage product that looks like is going to sell. Girls like you will always be sold mi_ _pajarito_ _._ _So of course_ _,_ _I had to remind him_ _and_ _the_ _rest the_ _rules._ _But you…”_ The insane chuckle that the pirate ‘ _graced_ ’ her ears with really didn't help making her feel safer. _“_ _You, mi_ _precioso_ _pajarito_ _,_ _you are_ ** _mine_** _, understood? You are mine and no one is allowed to touch what's mine_ _, OK? And if they tried_ _,_ _they would have to kill me first_ _to get you._ _Also how did you knew I was_ _originally meant_ _to sell you?_ _”_

_"_ _Since you didn’t kill us, I had a hunch you needed us for something_ _..._ _And if I tried to kill myself?”_ She didn’t want to but just to see how far his obsession goes, she asked him. 

_"Oh_ _,_ _pajarito_ _._ _I know you won’t. I can see the fire inside you._ _You're not done here in this world. You have a life back in America, don’t you?_ _You wouldn’t do that_ _a_ _s long as the chance is there_ _._ _And if you did…”_ He gripped with his free hand her neck and began to lightly choke her. Oh no. 

“ _I would hunt down_ _and torture all your friends_ _until they would beg to be killed, understood_ _pajarito_ _?”_ The predatory low tone he used should have scared her but unfortunately it brought her an entirely different effect alongside with the choking, the rubbing, the groping, with his kissing from before and the fact she didn’t engage into sex for at least a year. And she found him pretty to boot. 

“ ** _Aaah_** **…** ” She wanted to die right there and then. She prayed to God just to trigger him or something and choke her to death, snap her neck, shoot her, anything. Because she didn’t want to acknowledge what just happened. 

He immediately stopped and stood back from her, stopped rubbing his hips with hers, stopped gripping her wrists so her arms toppled down over her extremely blushing face and he stopped functioning altogether besides for breathing. She thought he even forgot how to blink. When he realized she was actually trying to cover her face he pried her hands away from her to see her raging blush of embarrassment and anger towards herself. She hoped she somehow fell of his high pedestal he put her on and just dubbed her as a whore, and would just want to kill her now. To her utter disbelief he actually blushed himself and sheepish, he asked her: “ _So… you have a choking kink, right_ _mi_ _reina_ _?”_

She just blushed harder if it was possible and just closed her eyes, threw her head back and groaned. Then she threw him a pleading look and asked him _:“Just kill me now. Please.”_

To her horror, his dreamy expression returned and he shook his head. _“Oh no,_ _no,_ _no,_ _no_ _, mi_ _amor_ _._ _If you would have asked me to fuck you_ _right now_ _,_ _I would have_ _done so_ _gladly. But you asked me to_ _kill you, and I promise I don’t want to do so anytime soon.”_ While still gripping her arms, he lowered his face to hers and she got scared he wanted to force her into kissing again. 

_“You’re really cute when you blush like this, mi_ _amor_ _._ _You know that?_ _”_ She remained immobile out of fear but he must have seen it and instead of her lips he kissed her forehead, her cheeks and went to snuggle a bit in the crook between her shoulder and neck. And then gave her a little kiss upon her neck too, ending with a happy sigh. 

_What… the actual fuck did I got myself into?_

" _VAAS!_ _We sent our people to investigate and_ _The Rakyat took away_ _the_ _Amanaki_ _Outpost!_ _The fugitives helped them take out_ _the men positioned there_ _!_ ” 

_Jason_ _and Grant! They are alright! But who…_ _are the Rakyat?_

The pirate raised himself from the position he was in and most likely annoyed by the interruption, the news and seeing the hopeful look on Hope's face, took out his gun and shot the pirate who burst into the shack until the mag of the gun got emptied. Surprised at the display of violence she shot a cautionary look to the pirate hoping not to trigger him more but still questioning him. 

On his knees, still on the bed, he holstered the gun in his cargo pants and took her cheek in his palm caressing it with his thumb. He had an unreadable expression and she still didn’t know how to read him. The only thing she understood is that he had a hero complex over her. Hope realized by now he was unpredictable so just to test the waters, she raised her hand to his and gripped it for a bit in a comforting gesture. He chuckled at that and the dreamy smile returned once more. 

“ _I’m going to do_ _worse_ _if I catch any of your friends, you know_ _pajarito_ _?_ ” She didn’t react to his words, just averted her eyes from his. 

“ _I know_ _..._ _and not even if I beg you, you won’t stop, don’t you?_ ” 

“ _Mi_ _pajarito_ _is really smart._ _Good.”_

Then he let go of her face, rose up from the bed and went for the door. 

“ _Rest for now, mi_ _amor_ _. And don’t do anything stupid again, OK? I wouldn’t want to shoot you again._ _Nico_ _wi_ _ll be checking on you for now until I can see you again._ _Oh_ _,_ _and something else._ ” 

He returned his face to her and with a boyish smile that she believed would have made any girl swoon even with the grisly scar on his head, he told her his name. 

“ _I'm the pirate lord of the Northern Rook Islands,_ _Vaas_ _Montenegro_ _, and you, Hope Celine_ _Lumiours_ _, are mine._ _Lo_ _haré_ _imposible_ _que l_ _o_ _olvides_ _, mi_ _corazón_ _._ ” And he left. 

She only saw him once since then, when he forced her to take part in a hostage video and since she was straight out ignoring him, he declared she must be indisposed because of her wound and sent her to his nearest outpost with her bodyguard/jailer. After a couple of days, in exchange of Nico, the pirate who was bringing her food and water and helping her change her bandages, Jason burst through the door with a rifle and looking worse for wear. Upon seeing her, he froze, not believing what he was seeing but he snapped out of it after Hope called his name. He ran to her bed to hug her and ended up crying, thanking God she was still alive. She could only hug him back and cry too since she figured she won’t see him ever again. Soon Grant appeared too and ran, crushing the both of them in a hug and letting out a small tear. 

Then afterwards they left the camp and Hope was brought to a cave under the Doctor's ‘mansion’. He recognized her and spoke to the others about Montenegro’s obsession with her but Jason and Grant couldn’t have cared less about it while Daisy and Liza turned more protective over her. Afterwards the Doctor kept checking on her seeing everyone was still willing to take care of her.

She never asked what happened to Nico since she really didn’t want to acknowledge the death of the only person who kept her company for nearly a week. He had been polite to her too. 

She didn't confront Jason about what she said in the jungle that night and neither him asked her about it. She was glad he actually forgot. It was a traumatizing event. They wouldn’t have to be awkward around each other. 

She didn’t tell them either what had happened while she and Montenegro were alone. She was afraid they would victimize her and that would only anger her. Hope **hated** to be pitied. 

She only asked them about what they had been doing since then, who the Rakyat were and why was Jason sporting now tribal tattoos. They quickly briefed her. And after a couple of days, she finally got tired of waiting for the guys to do everything and gave them an ultimatum: either they let her come along since she had training with firearms since she was a kid, she knew how to use a bow, she knew when to engage and when to run away, she knew how to hunt, track and forage, she knew how to survive. 

Or she would just leave the cave whenever they weren’t around. Grant gave up trying to convince her to stand back and wait and Jason just got mad at them both. So, they set up a system. Whenever they had small missions they will go out in pairs and would go in order, while the third would stay behind at the cave in the case they got discovered. If it was bigger missions, like one from the Rakyat or those that they knew involved Montenegro, only Jason and Grant would go. It was her turn to throw a fit. They reasoned with the fact that the Rakyat only saw Jason actually affiliated with them ( _which was unfair because she knew her and Grant_ _were better shooters than Jason_ ), they didn’t like Grant either and as it was a _masculine_ – ‘ _pfft_ _... don’t beat around the bush and just call it sexist_ _JayJay'_ _–_ culture so they mainly only wanted Jason to do stuff for them. Or better said _their leader_ wanted only Jason. She only gave an eyeroll at that, just saying it was shady as heck. As for the other reason, the pirate had an obsession about her and he already shot her once. She was going to say he was actually shooting Grant but with a look from both of them she shut up. She had already displayed all her cards on the table. 

And two last conditions. If she was ever out by herself and either the pirates or whoever wanted to make her suffer was pinning for her, she will not engage, just run as if the Devil was right on her tail, right back at the cave or hide as best as she could. And if she knew Montenegro was around, no matter if she was with either of them or both, she would leave. Get away before he even figures out she was there in the first place. Just to enforce the point they told her the pirate was once part of the Rakyat, their champion even at one point, so if he even got a feeling she was in the premises, he would track her down like a hound. She actually got scared for a second, thinking how would he react after more or less she ‘abandoned’ him. And she had a feeling he actually wouldn’t react well at all, as unpredictable as he was. 

And so, they started to work on finishing the boat. 

♤♡◇♧♤♡◇♧♤♡◇♧♤♡◇♧♤♡◇♧♤♡◇♧♤♡◇♧♤♡◇♧♤♡◇♧ 

She finally got out of memory lane when she realized Jason opened another bottle. 

“Hey... sorry.” 

“No, no worries. That night you nearly died, Hope. I believe you are allowed to daydream for a while.” He ended with a somber chuckle. 

“Jason... what were you going to say to me? Please continue. I’ll try not to space out, I promise.” Why was she stuck on the meek voice? Was she already drunk? 

After a minute of silence, which seemed an eternity to her, he spoke up again. 

“After Grant dragged me away, we got separated for a little while. I was alone just for a few minutes from what Grant told me. I... I killed someone. It was in self-defense, the guy was trying to stab me, but... I never thought I'd be able to kill someone. The first time, it felt wrong. Which is good, right? But now... it feels like winning.” 

A little horrified at his last words she asked him why. 

“Why?... I just feel like for once I’m doing something meaningful. While I’m fighting... I feel invincible. As if nothing can actually kill me. I... I like it.” 

She quickly grabbed his face with her hands to make him watch her, snap him out of whatever trance he was in. “Jason. This is not you.” 

“No... this is me, Hope. Citra convinced me. She told me I am their **warrior** , that **I’m** Rakyat. That every man that fights me should die and have his life taken from him by **me**! I **live** for fighting. The tatau made me fearless, **powerful**! It’s amazing!” He looked fanatical and now she understood why Grant would say he couldn’t recognize Jason anymore. 

Scared, she began to tremble but Jason didn’t realize as he grabbed her by her biceps, shaking her a little in his... power fantasy. “I killed the giant, the Ink Monster, Hope! I’m meant to rule the Rakyat! Can’t you see? The boat is nearly finished so I told Grant I’m staying. He tried to convince me otherwise but I can’t return Hope! I can’t!” 

Her arms were starting to hurt with how hard he was grabbing her. She will most likely have bruises later. “The jungle, the island! This is where I’m meant to be! I have to free the island! Kill Buck, kill Hoyt, **KILL VAAS!** ” 

Hope couldn’t take it anymore, the insanity of this island. She just wanted to go back home, she just wanted him to stop. She wanted her Jason back, not this... whoever was this. 

“ ** _WHO_** ** _THE_** ** _FUCK_** ** _ARE_** ** _YOU_ ** **_?!_** ” 

The echo of the slap she gave him must have been heard from at least 10 meters. If she was worried before they might be sighted, now she knew they must have been. But this was not what mattered now. 

Jason stood there, his cheek which she struck red and her left hand hurt and she noticed she was crying but her _anger_ , her _fear_ , her **_ignorance_** ( _How did I not see this coming? How?_ ) finally broke the bottle of emotions she kept hidden from everyone in order to concentrate on getting off the island but she couldn’t keep her composure any longer. Not when she saw what they have done to Jason, right under her nose. She got up, away from him, disgusted while he tried to reach her as if she was a spooked animal. It was true she was baring her teeth at him and crying but she was SO **angry.**

“Hope... Why the fuck did you-” 

“If you’re going to say something that makes you look like a lunatic like before I don’t want to hear it at all! I DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT! And I will slap you as many times as I need to if it’s necessary for you to stop acting like a maniac!” She was livid. Was Jason this power hungry before or did he just turn stupid when he put foot on the island?! 

“Hope. You don’t understand. Calm down.” He raised himself up and he tried to approach her but she only stepped back farther from him. 

“Don’t come near! I understand perfectly! That bitch, Talugmai, she is manipulating you! And you’re too blind to see!” 

“Hope-” 

“NO! I stayed silent enough!” She was openly glaring at him right now and her hand was nearing her knife. Seeing it Jason put himself on guard, most likely trying to figure out how to disarm her without hurting her. Or before she hurt herself. 

“What the fuck do you mean with you are Rakyat, Jason?! You’re from South California! You’re American, Jason. You never put foot on this island ever before to be connected to those people! Me, Grant, Riley, Oliver, Liza, Daisy, Keith! We ARE your people! Your friends! Your **family**! What the fuck do you mean the tatau gave you power?! It’s a story for children! It’s only a legend! This is no magic, these are just drugs, Jason! You are strong on your own, you don’t need that stupid tattoo to fight! It doesn’t make you God! It doesn’t give you a justified reason to kill people just because! And what Ink Monster?! Did you really think that if there was a giant on this island me or Grant or anybody wouldn’t have seen it? Or did she fucking drug you to see it? How did you defeat it, huh?! We saw Godzilla a million times Jason and not even with planes with guns they couldn’t kill him!” She was screaming now and whoever was out there must have heard her, the Rakyat must have heard her, questioning their beliefs but she couldn’t care less right now! They were taking Jason away from them, turning him into something he wasn’t! 

“Hope, calm down. Riley is dead. I have to liberate the island for the Rakyat and to avenge him.” 

His calm tone was beginning to creep her out, feed the volcano of rage inside her and how dare he say Riley was dead?! She nearly sprinted at him and began to hit his chest with her fists to somehow make him realize how utterly crazy he sounded. 

“What the fuck do you mean with ‘I have to’?! This is not your fight Jason! We just got pulled in it! We don’t owe them anything! Do you think they will revere the ground you walk on after this? No! You will forever be the Colonialist tourist they tricked into doing their dirty work! And what the fuck do you mean Riley is dead?! Until we see his corpse, I will not believe it! Fuck what Keith said! I survived that bullet and they wanted to ransom us and sell us from the start, so he has to be alive! Otherwise, they would just be losing money and any advantage they have over us Jason! But how the fuck could you give up so soon on your little brother?! How the fuck could you do that?!” 

“Hope, stop it. I understand you’re angry but I know what I’m doing.” He tried to take hold of her writs but she wouldn’t let him! No way! 

“Oh really?! You know what you’re doing?! Or do you just know because Talugmai is telling you what to do?! What the fuck happened to the Jason that will disobey whatever the teachers would say when he was bored huh? When we would skip classes and go wherever just because we’ve been told to stay put?! What the fuck happened to that Jason?” 

“He grew up.” 

“No, he just became the mindless hound of the Rakyat! You didn’t grow up at all! You are just searching a pedestal to be put on!” 

“Hope, shut up! You don’t understand.” 

“No, you shut up! You don’t understand! Because you don’t want to see the truth! How they use you! Why the fuck did you give that dagger back to the Rakyat?! You deserved it! You nearly died for it, countless times! And they didn’t even said thanks for nearly dying for them!” 

She knew she was slowly getting to him since he began to shut up. Maybe she could recover her Jason... No, she will recover him, find Riley and get the fuck off the island and back home! 

“And what the fuck do you mean with staying behind? Do you really thought I would just leave you behind like that? Fuck, I don’t know about the others but you really thought I would leave you all alone in this hell?! Who the fuck do you take me for Jason?!” 

“Why?” 

With how quietly he said it she nearly didn’t understood him. 

“What?” 

“Why the fuck would you stay behind with me Hope?” 

_… fucking Hell._

He stepped even closer to her, nearly suffocating her but she didn’t back down. She wouldn’t step down. Not now when he needed her. 

“Because I’ve told you Jason. In the jungle, when we escaped and we both thought I will die.” 

_Now or never._

She raised herself on her tiptoes and lightly kissed him on his lips while caressing the cheek where she slapped him trying to say sorry. 

“Because I love you Jason. Since I figured what I was actually feeling towards you when I was 16. I never stopped searching for you in whoever I would start a fling with. And I’m afraid that I’m losing you Jason.” 

He stood there for a moment looking at her as if he couldn’t understand what she was saying but quickly his face changed, too quick for her to understand it and he jumped her. 

For a second she was thinking he wanted to attack her for everything she said about the Rakyat while they were falling, but... he was kissing her and she thought Jason never actually kissed her so passionately ever. As if he was afraid of something, what exactly she didn’t know. 

But she quickly answered him. She will take all his fears away. Just like back then. 

He wrapped her arms around her back, not allowing her to run away from him anymore but he didn’t realize she didn’t want to do so any longer. Just to prove it, she wrapped her arms around his neck and with one hand she would tangle her fingers in his hair, massaging his scalp just like she used to, making him moan ( _How she missed that sweet sound_ ) and with her other hand, gripping hard at his t-shirt, not wanting to let go. She left it pretty clear that she wanted to stay, and with the new hunger that was reflected in his eyes and his new attempts to make her open her mouth by nibbling at her bottom lip. He didn’t need to ask more sweetly. 

She closed her eyes and as soon as she opened her mouth his tongue began to explore every crevice as if the secret to eternal life was hiding somewhere in there. She soon began to tease his tongue with her own which rewarded her with a couple of groans ( _although she let out a couple of moans, which he happily claimed and renewed his hunger of her_ ) and for some reason made him even more needy. But she felt it: the fire that always possessed him whenever they kissed, the greediness he showed always to touch her skin, to touch her everywhere, his _hunger_ and _thirst_ and _raw_ ** _need_ ** to hear her moan his name due to his ministrations, to make her sing filthy notes for him and only him, to make her love him and need him just like he loved and needed her. And she didn’t want to hold back anymore either. 

When neither of them could breathe anymore, they separated, both of them gulping air but a line of saliva was still connecting them. From what she observed she could barely see anymore the green of Jason’s eyes, due to his dilated pupils ( _although she was sure her eyes were the same_ ). And he was smiling at her. She must have been blushing like a tomato. 

_He wanted her, he still wanted her, right? Did he forgive her?_

He then started to kiss her all over her face, her chin and soon went for her neck. Not like it was the first time she had problems explaining to Daphne or whoever asked about the sudden hickeys and bite marks she would have around her neck. Back then she would always resolve the problem by putting on a light scarf saying it was chic or her neck hurt or dress with sweaters that would hide her neck saying she was cold even if everyone called bullshit since it was never cold in freaking California. Grant would just watch her with a judgmental stare and pick fun at both her and Jason when there weren’t any eavesdroppers around. 

Back to the present, like always Jason’s ministrations were making her hard to speak without moaning or squeaking ( _the bastard just loved to make her squeak so he would bite her harder than necessary in a sensitive spot, enjoying her reactions; annoying sadist._ ) but she knew she had to speak now because she wasn’t prepared for what was coming next. During their make out session she, without realizing, wrapped her legs around Jason’s hips and both of their animalistic brains decided that rubbing their crotches against each other was the best thing to do, in the middle of nowhere, when there could be any enemy popping from anywhere and watch them like a pervert ( _and the pirates were perverts, no doubt, maybe the Rakyat too, she didn’t knew anything about them besides that they were manipulators, creeps and fanatics_ ) or just waiting for a not so embarrassing moment to jump them ( _who was she kidding? She was asking for too much here_ ). And as much as she liked to make love with Jason, she was no exhibitionist.

She pushed him a bit and got up but he soon followed. When he began to unbutton her olive shirt, the one she got from Earnhardt after they realized she couldn’t walk around just in her bikini top, while trying to kiss and bite his way to her breasts she snapped him out of it. 

“J-Jason... aah... we still need to... to... uhm... talk. Wait... a-aah... minute... please!” 

He just ignored her too occupied with his task at hand. Maybe if they were in another setting, somewhere far from the island, she would have felt more flustered by his needy attitude but now she needed him to think with his head and not his dick. Besides she was still angry at him. 

“J-...Jason!” 

Still ignoring her, apparently annoyed he had problems with the buttons. “I might as well just rip this, besides you look so sexy in only that top. Maybe I should destroy your pants too. I have only seen you once with only your bikini on. I need to see you more in it. It’s a piece of art.“ 

Her patience finally reached a limit. No way she was walking around only in her bikini, no! 

Since he apparently didn’t want to hear anything of what she said ( _selfish asinine jock that he was_ ) she did the only thing she knew worked against him. Faster that he could realize she grabbed him by his crotch ( _oh fuck, he was so hard, now she understood why he was so needy but sex really wasn’t_ _their_ _priority right now_ ) and squeezed him for a little bit making him yelp. 

“Hope!” 

“Oh, don’t you dare ‘Hope!’ yourself out of this! Don’t you dare make me the bad guy in this.” The annoyance she felt was literally dripping from her tone and combined with her unamused stare made Jason counterattack her with his puppy dog eyes, those that **_he_** _knew_ were turning her into a pushover PDQ. 

_Oh, so this was how he was going to play, huh?_

Gripping him a little harder and sneaking her hand under his shirt ( _was she sexually assaulting him right now or was she just seducing him? Who knew at this point._ ), scratching him with her nails until she reached one of his nipples and started to play with it. Making him moan her name. Great, all of his attention was on her now. 

Glaring at him, she told him: “We still have a lot to talk about Jason. But we’re going to talk tomorrow, understood? I’m too tired and you’re too... _needy_ AND _drunk_ right now to actually take me seriously. NO WAY I’m having sex in the middle of nowhere too.” 

“You had no problem with that when we were younger.”

For that she squeezed him longer this time while showing him a cynical smile. Unfortunately, the beautiful sounds he was making were starting to get to her again. They left the cave for far too long. Grant must have been wondering where they went to and what were they doing. Or maybe he spared himself from the trauma. “Yeah, smartass, because I actually had shame. You never had it. Besides, I’m 26 now and I have much more pride than back then.” 

_How come this was once their normal? But for some dumb reason... it felt right._

When she took her hand away, Jason grabbed her and pulled her towards him kissing her sweetly. She really didn’t want to leave this place, it felt like a dream but finally hearing the sounds of the jungle after she never heard anything for the entirety of the night besides the crackling of the fire and Jason’s breathing... it made her uneasy. She felt... watched for a while now and she didn’t know by who or what but she just knew they needed to leave. The sooner the better. 

After kissing him again he let her go, hoping he sobered up, both from the beer and the insanity of the island he fell prey too, he took her chin in his hand. 

“I need you to answer me something Hope. Why did you leave to Connecticut? You could have studied in California just fine so... why? You never explained it to me, you would just change the subject.” 

“Only if you promise you will think about what I’ve practically screamed at you tonight. And if you answer me a question too afterwards. I’m being serious Jason.” 

Jason watched her for a while but he soon nodded and let go of her chin. “Fine... I promise.” 

She let out a little sight of relief over his promise and started talking. She knew he was going to get mad but she really needed to be truthful to him when he looked so vulnerable. 

She walked over to where the blanket was and began to fold it so she could pack it into her backpack. “I think you’ve met him only once... at my tenth birthday. My grandfather on my father’s side. Tobias Ark. You thought he was really awesome since he gifted me a bow and a set of arrows, along with some military books and a hunting knife.” 

_How come she never considered weird when he told her to keep the knife a secret between the both of them?_

“Oh yeah... I think I remember him. He was quite imposing. Big, with a cane and an awesome beard? I think I also remember your mother and Giovanni weren’t quite happy to see him either. She even tried to close the door in his face which was super weird since she is so friendly to everyone. Grant said she must have acted like that just because he was her former father-in-law.” Jason walked over to her and began to help her with retiring the snacks that remained and the bottles, both full and empty, since beer was still beer, even if it was disgusting, and with the empty ones they could make Molotov cocktails. 

She chuckled a bit at that. But Jason still watched her confused. 

“But... what does he have to do with you going to Yale?” 

She went over to the fire and with the now cold water in the cooler, she watched as the fire was dying out. “Well... do you remember when you were 12, I had to spend a year with my father’s family because both Maman, her family and neither Giovanni could take care of me for a while?” 

“Yeah, it was really weird. Mom and Dad even offered to take care of you while your mom was gone but I believe someone else, from your father’s side insisted they had to be the ones to take care of you. Riley was actually excited at the idea that you would stay for a few months with us. He... No, all three of us were actually disappointed you didn’t actually stay in the end.” 

“Oh, that’s so cute! I’ll have to tease Riley once we find him. Oh, and can you imagine how much we can tease Grant about this? It will be fun!” 

After she said that Jason suddenly came from behind her and wrapped his hands around her stomach, keeping her close to his chest. He set his head in the crook of her neck and gave her a small wet kiss accompanied by his tongue licking his way up to her ear. She couldn’t help but flush and he most likely knew it, the rascal. 

“You’re changing the subject, **Celine**.” She expected the whisper but not the bite. And neither she expected his wandering hands, one coming near to her chest while the other approaching her crotch. 

She quickly ran away from his grasp before he could continue and when she looked at the playful smirk set upon his face... She couldn’t help herself from getting annoyed. 

_You cheap playboy._

“Alright, alright. Fine. Just stay away from me.” _You’re making it hard for me to think, you ass._

“As you wish. But I will do the same thing, no, **different** things, if you try to change the subject again.” That devilish smile of his didn’t help with her blush either. 

“OK. Let’s start walking to the car while we’re at it.” 

Jason came once again near her but she was prepared this time. He chuckled seeing as she was alert and just offered his hand to her. She took glances between it and Jason’s face but seeing as she was in no immediate danger to make a fool of herself, she took it. They both soon intermingled their fingers, it was just natural to the both of them, and Jason pulled her closer to him. She didn’t fight it, although she knew she should have done so. 

Jason gave her hand a squeeze and she started to talk again. 

“That year I did spent time with the rest of my family but mostly with my half-siblings and Tobias. Charlotte was just happy we finally got to actually spend time as a family and go to classes together while Alex was just trying to impress me all the time. Father... Axel was never there. I think he wanted to just prove me he couldn’t care less about me. And it hurt... but what matters is that Tobias kind of took the role as father figure for me. Grandmother Carmela was... I think in Europe too at the time. Anyway, I learned... a lot... about the other side of my family tree.” 

Suddenly flashes of memories long buried came back to her and she couldn’t help herself but start shivering. 

“Yeah... you changed a bit after you came back. Only me and Grant could tell you were somehow different from before. Mom would just say that girls mature faster than boys.” He must have noted something was wrong with her and let go of her hand in order to pull her into a side hug. She was kind of grateful but... it annoyed her too for some reason. She didn’t need protection. She was strong. She didn’t need pity. 

To distract herself from the feeling she continued. “Yeah, she is right. During that year, under Tobias’s tutelage I... matured. But before I returned home, we had a... private chat. He told me that even if Maman left Axel I was still tied to the Ark family. And no matter where I ran to or hid... I would still have... _obligations..._ to the family...” 

“OK, I changed my opinion about him. Your grandfather is creepy. Like Gollum levels of creepy.” 

She chuckled at that. It had to be Jason with his pop culture references that made her crack a laugh in this place. 

“Since I didn’t like those _obligations_ he came at me with, I offered something else. To become a…” She was going to say tool but she quickly changed her mind. “… a better member of the family by becoming a lawyer. He didn’t accept it at the beginning. After insisting a lot he only allowed it with the condition I would go to the best school and end as one of the best students of my year. And the best school when I graduated was Yale…” 

“… And you had to leave. But I really don’t understand why you couldn’t back out from the deal.” The sad tone in his voice just made her feel more guilty but she really had no other choice. She couldn’t explain it either without creeping him out. And she liked how they were right now. 

“I just… couldn’t.” Not when Tobias made subtle threats that he will eliminate everything that tied her to California if necessary. It wasn’t where she was meant to be anyway, in his words. 

Maman, Giovanni, Oliver Carswell and the entire Brody family. And he proved her how easily he could ‘make someone disappear’ when he ‘ _predicted_ _’_ Jason's father's death. She couldn’t even look the Brody's in the eye for months from the horror and shame she felt. But she couldn’t say anything either. Tobias had warned her of it. That he will make her loose everything if she talked. And she was scared. She could only try to comfort the boys whenever they were together but she still felt as if it was all her fault... And it was. And worse is that she could never be fully truthful to Jason. 

He just gave her a kiss on the crown of her head and in silence they soon reached the Scavenger, Hope thanking God nobody stole it. But she had to make that question because otherwise she couldn't continue whatever she had with Jason and have a clear conscience about it. 

Just as soon as Jason was about to go the driver's seat, she stopped him by grabbing his hand and squeezing it for a bit. He turned back to her. 

“You're drunk, let me drive. Also… Jason… what about Liza?” 

When he heard Liza's name his face turned somber and he averted his gaze. She really didn't want to put him between a rock and a hard place but she was no cheater. He had Liza now and she deserved a lot after this nightmare of ‘ _vacation'_. The least she deserved was to be free of her relationship with Jason if he didn’t love her anymore. And Hope… she didn’t want to be like Axel or those women that visited his bed. A cheater. She remembered how her mother suffered because of Axel's infidelities and she couldn’t do that to anyone, not even if she didn’t get along with Liza. 

After a minute of silence Jason looked back at her, a cold as ice look in his precious green eyes, something that shouldn’t have been there in the first place but she brought it. While entwining his fingers with hers, he raised his other hand and began to caress her cheek. “After you left… I was mad. At you, most of all. You just left me behind as if I meant nothing to you.” His indifferent tone was like a knife, cutting her into awareness. 

She didn’t want to be this melodramatic but she couldn’t help but tear up a bit. “I know. And I'm sorry. I'm really sorry Jason and I don’t expect you to forgive me.” She remembered the fights she had with Jason over this matter. How hurt he was over her ‘ _selfish'_ decision and how he would avoid the subject with kisses and temptations. It hurt both of them but even in those sweet moments spent together, Tobias's words would still sound in her mind like an omen. She was too scared, and she preferred it: all those she cared about to continue with their lives and hate her than to actually lose them just because she was selfish. 

He then began to kiss her cheeks, wiping away with his lips the small tears that fell without her permission. She didn’t expect it. 

“You know, I found it amusing when you said you searched for me in everyone you met. Because I did the same.” 

This honestly surprised her. He only chuckled at her expression. 

“The only one who fit the bill the most was Liza. Liza… is like you in some ways but… it's still not you.” 

Maybe he didn’t know what to say but he took a second to, what appeared as, collect and order his thoughts. To Hope it felt like hours but a part of her was just too entranced by how his features looked in the moonlight. She may sound like a foolish teen with a big fat crush but… he looked like a dream. 

“I may not be able to forgive you so easily with you’re reasons being still shady, Hope… But I still love you. And I can’t let you get away from me again either.” 

Then he kissed her again and, silently crying, she kissed him back. Together, like this… it just felt perfect. It felt like a heavy pressure was taken away from her shoulders. It felt like she finally found the puzzle piece to finish the picture. 

She loved him and all those years just made it more difficult for her. Apparently it was the same for him. 

They broke the kiss and he shot her a look so full of love that just made her go weak at the knees. She might as well have been addicted to Jason and she just re-lapsed. She just hoped she wasn’t the only one that felt that way. 

“I know you hate cheaters and Liza does deserve better than this. Once we get off the island I will break things off with Liza. I just believe it really isn't the best moment to actually break up with her.”… It wasn't the best conclusion but it was better than nothing. He gave her a confident smile and went for another kiss but she quickly stopped him with a finger on his lips.

“Uh… Sorry Prince Charming but that’s not going to happen. My morality meter just took a break because of my mental breakdown but it came back. So until we get off the island, you, Sir Brody, won't be getting anything from me.” He just looked at her like a child that had been denied his cookies and she fought to keep her stern stare. She could do it all night, she didn’t care. And her determination gave fruit when he averted his gaze, upset. She felt a bit bad but she knew she was right. She went for the driver's seat but got soon turned when he grabbed her, hugged her and kissed her head. 

She glared at him for a bit but he just gave her a smirk and just mentioned how it was fair if they would cuddle whenever they were alone. No way he was left with nothing out of this. She took it because cuddles did sound nice. 

They got in the Scavenger and with Jason’s hand on hers, she honestly thought things were getting better. Until she saw in the moonlight a car, without the headlights on, behind them. 

“Hope, we're being followed.” 

“I know. But they don’t feel like pirates.” When the crossroads came she took a left instead of a right. No way she was leading whoever it was back to the cave. 

He kept quiet and it was worrying her but she continued to drive. 

Then bullets started flying. She wasn't sure if it was Jason or whoever was in the other car who started but it really didn’t matter anymore, right? She kept on driving faster and faster trying to lose them in the jungle while trying not to throw off Jason but it was getting harder and harder. 

Whoever was in the car would change their priorities constantly. Never figuring if they should shoot at Jason or the tires. It was annoying. 

“HOPE! LOOK OUT!” Unfortunately Jason wasn't fast enough to alert her of the bastard that T-boned them before she lost control of the car and her consciousness. 

She woke up next in a bed, her third time being unconscious and waking up in a unfamiliar environment. It was becoming a trend and she hated it. She didn't try to rise up and, in exchange, just moved her head. 

It helped her realize she was in one of the pirate's shacks and that she was surrounded by psychopaths. 

On her left side there was only a boarded up window and the insane pirate, Montenegro, who when saw her eyes open jumped up excited but there was something in his eyes, a predatory glint she didn’t like. It felt as if he wanted to eat her up whole. She quickly turned her head, not wishing to analyze anything in her state and neither to give any more attention to the pirate. 

To her right, there was the door to outside most likely, another boarded up window and sitting lazily in a chair was that disturbing psycho, Hughes, grinning like they have been friends for years and just finally reunited. It creeped her out for some reason. Hope thought she was better off with the pirate instantly since he had some kind of concern for her but before she could turn fully her head, Hughes got up from the chair and took her chin in his hand to make her watch him. 

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep, lass.”… She recognized that poem. 

“But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.” She recited from memory, involuntarily. She didn’t knew why. 

The psycho watched her surprised but soon let out a cackle. 

“Only few actually knew how that continued.” She picked up on the past tense. Disturbing bastard. 

“I like you Miss Lumiours. I do. Or… should I call ya' Miss Ark, lass?” Her blood ran cold in her veins and her face must have turned various shades of white for the bastard to actually laugh at her panic. 

“Oh, was I supposed to not know about it, lass?” She didn’t have time to panic. She needed to find a way to escape. Now. She won't show weakness to this parasite. 

“You were the one watching me and Jason last night and began to shoot at us.” Not a question. A fact. She was tired of being fucked around with by these pricks. 

He must have seen something in her eyes because he began to chuckle once more, the mad bastard. 

“Oh I see it now. I see lass. The same glare as the posh bastard of your pops. But it also looks the same as Carmela's. Like parent, like child, wasn't it? Even if you had been domesticated by that sweet woman you call ‘Maman' and her posh friend? What was her name… ah right, Aurora Lumiours, French, 47, former Miss France and model, owns half of the Conti brand and is the master chemist behind their line of perfumes with Giovanni Conti, Half-Italian Half-Belgian, 46, the designer, main photographer and half owner of his brand. He even tailored for royal families thanks to your mother’s connections.” 

She just rolled her eyes and asked him in the most uninterested voice she could muster: “And did it take you all the time I've been stranded to search this info on Wikipedia or is that bad the connection here?” 

He chuckled once again but what worried her the most was the silence of the pirate. 

While on the hunt, is the tiger most silent after all. Also, tigers proved to be quite vengeful too, confirmed by studies. 

And with the intensity of his stare on her… she didn’t knew who between these two was the lesser evil. She didn’t have enough information on Hughes besides that he was a sadist and a homosexual (even though that didn’t meant he won’t treat her the same or worse than Keith) and Montenegro… it was a known fact he was the most unpredictable thing to have ever lived in this island. And with him… not showing any kind of emotion right now… made him even more unpredictable. 

She would rather take her chances with Hughes than with Montenegro. 

“You know something, lass? You may be school smart, but you're truly a shit comedian.” 

“And you're not the first or last to tell me that.” Her retort earned her a backhand finally and the pirate stayed still as a statue staring at her. 

“Did your mother not thought you any better than that, girlie? You know, I actually regret I didn’t turn your toy boy into a whore before our lad over here finished him off.” She didn’t react to the words and she saw how it displeased the Australian but she won’t hand over to him her pain so easily. Besides, she didn’t believe it. Maybe she had too much faith in him but she knew Jason was still alive somewhere. Jason Brody is a survivor after all. 

“Why did you slap me only?” Maybe because she didn’t drank anything for only the hours she'd been unconscious but only now she realized her throat was really raspy. 

“Could you repeat that, lass?” Bastard. He heard Hope clearly. 

She only glared at him. 

He was most likely going to chastise her for ignoring him but suddenly a man, in his forties most likely, with a gold chain at his neck, red dress shirt, black suit jacket and jeans entered the pirate shack as if he owned the place. And he most likely did seeing as Hughes turned his attention back at him and, even for a minute or two, the pirate took it's stare away from her. She was thankful and at the same time terrified. She was definitely now in the lion's den. 

The man showed her a, what appeared warm, smile but it only brought her chills down her spine. She tried to be as impassive as possible. She felt as if she betrayed any emotion, especially to this man, it will be her downfall. 

“Lovely weather we're having.” He approached her bed and sat, not before giving a back slap to the Aussie and a passing glance to the pirate behind her. He also whispered something to Hughes which incited the exit of the sadist. Hughes took his leave but only after he wished her a nice stay and waved. 

“Lumiours, Ark, whatever your surname is, it slipped my mind. Would you mind reminding me girl?” He seemed relaxed but the predatory feeling he gave off only made her more vigilant. 

“Ark was the one I was born with and Lumiours is the one I changed to. Make your choice on which to use.” She decided to not beat around the bush with this kind of man. But not give him immediately what he wanted. 

“Oh, thanks for the offer. I'll pick the one which actually matters. Now Miss Ark, how was your stay in our paradise and how you find my humble business? Did those natives treat you right? Was it fun conquering the outposts of my pirates?” His tone was light but she knew he was just about to snap at her with how rigid he was. 

“My stay was quite terrific, I cannot lie. And by ‘your’ pirates do you mean the one who threatened to take my life and sexually assault me, no matter the order? Than yes, I had fun killing them. As for the Rakyat, or natives as you might call them, they don't acknowledge me and neither can I say I find their existence… a joy. More like they are a big thorn in my side. Specifically that leader of theirs.” She couldn’t help but give a scoff at the end thinking of the Rakyat leader. Annoying enough, jealousy reared it's ugly head when Jason described Talugmai for the first time. As if she was an actual goddess. She ignored him for the rest of the day after reminding him he has a girlfriend.

Both the pirate and the man looked a bit surprised when she mentioned her distaste towards the Rakyat but they recovered quickly. It didn’t matter to her their opinions on her. It was useless at this point since she won't beg for her life. She was too prideful for that. 

The tension appeared to have turned smaller so she allowed herself to make a question. 

“And may I know the name of my generous host?” The sarcasm could be heard from a mile away but the business man appeared to find it amusing. 

“I see you do not remember me. But again you were just a child back then and you were far more occupied with whatever task you have to been given that certain day by Tobias.” At that she felt once more chills down her spine. She, Jason and Grant were so dead. Maybe the others could save themselves but she knew her, Jason and Grant were completely fucked if this man was actually associated with her father and grandfather. 

Hope believed Hughes was taunting her when he mentioned Axel and Carmela but if he actually knew them… Shit. 

“Let me present myself once more. I'm Hoyt Volker, the owner of this honorable business.” 

_Wait… wasn’t this guy the one obsessed with Germany_ _?_

“Yes, I remember you now Mister Volker. You had been doing business with my grandfather at the time I believe. Excuse my rudeness.” Fuck. Her. Life. He didn’t hurt her or kill her yet so he wanted her alive. Maybe because they are partners someway or another? Or did he want a guaranteed sale? 

“No, no, no. My apologies for the treatment of my men towards you. I truly hope you had fun. Now.” She believed the anxiety she had until that moment was bad but Hoyt Volker proved her he can do worse. 

“Since I finally had the chance to meet you and acknowledge your identity, you'll just have to wait a while for someone to come after you. Until than, you will accompany my right hand here. I believe you met already, on the first day you arrived?” 

She realized then that Hoyt most likely didn't knew Montenegro shot her. She was tempted for a second to mention it but she decided otherwise. If she had to spend time with the pirate she'd rather not have him antagonize her. 

“Yes… we met that day. He does his job… quite well for what he is meant to do Sir Volker. “ The pirate shot her a look she recognized as inquisitive but didn’t gave it a second glance and refocused on the South African. She had time to worry about Montenegro later. 

“Good, good. He may have been one of those barbaric natives once but he turned into a gentleman under my supervision. You'll see. Vaas, my boy, invite her to some good drink or some crystal meth. Whatever fits her fancy.” She wanted to roll her eyes so badly. 

“Sure, boss.” 

This bastard was just treating her like this because he knew Tobias and Carmela were interested in her. They will buy her. And then she will forever be indebted to them, her father and the rest of her fucked up family. She will never see her mom, her grandpas, her uncles and cousins, Giovanni... 

Jason. 

No. Not when they just made up. 

She needed to leave the island before some representative of them arrived to buy her. 

No matter what. 

“So, Miss Ark, any hobbies to keep yourself occupied with? Cooking, painting, movies… torture? There's no need to be shy Miss, I promise I won’t tell anything to your family if you wish but I’m sure Carmela would be proud.” If he offered himself or Hughes on the torture offer she wouldn’t mind. 

“Sketching and hunting.” She didn’t make it obvious but she really hoped he would like to see her hunting. Accidents always happen while hunting. 

“Hmm, hunting, the most noble of professions. I see you picked a fancy on it just like Tobias. But considering your recent agenda I believe you must have gotten bored of shooting all day. You have the itch to be sketching, right Miss?” Of course he wasn't that dumb to give her a gun from the get go. No matter. She will get her hands on one. There were plenty in the camps.

“Of course Sir Volker. As you said I've been busy so I didn’t have time to sketch the beautiful landscapes of Rook. Besides it's quite hard to find good paper and charcoal.” She threw in an exasperated sight to give her more credibility. Worst comes to worst she could always burn charcoal and die due to carbon monoxide poisoning. There were surely matches around, somewhere. 

Maybe they would let her roam around. Study her environment. And plan her escape carefully. Hopefully. 

Volker finally rose from the bed and with a finger motioned for the pirate to approach. And he approached without a fuss. That was… unexpected. 

“Alright then, I'll see for my men to bring you something. Unfortunately, I can't stay any longer since I already had a busy schedule. I'm glad to see you're a smart young woman Miss. And Vaas, don't you dare loose her of your sight, alright? You already fucked up with the Brodys and the others so, UNLESS YOU WANT YOUR HEAD TO DECORATE MY CAR YOU WON'T FUCK UP! Understood?” The sudden shouting annoyed her but before actually thinking, like an idiot she opened her mouth. 

“The secret to make employees happy is fear.” She hated so much Carmela. 

The kingpin looked at her surprised but soon gave her an amused look. “I see you're not as much of a lost cause as I believed Miss Ark. Glad to meet you once more. Don't fuck around and abuse my hospitality or the next time I see you I won't mind organizing an actual auction. I already know some people who would bid quite a high price on such a cute thing like you.” He might as well have been the most sincere since he started speaking to her. And the cold tone fit him more. So it only made her feel more like she was in that house once more. 

Humming a song which she recognized as “Ride of the Valkyries”, not giving another glance to his henchman, he left the shack and closed the door just as he entered. Yet it felt like she survived a storm. 

But now she was alone with the madman himself.

Just face the music, Hope. Even if it's dubstep. 

A few moments later after watching the door, maybe he was wary of Volker returning for one last monologue, he walked towards her and sat just where Volker sat. He didn’t look at her at first but she was watching him, preparing for an attack. The tension was nearly palpable and for a second she felt like she was suffocating. But she will not let him see her fear. 

He finally spoke to her after she thought he was done contemplating something and she was glad he was done with the silent treatment. With how talkative he was usually it was actually chilling seeing him quiet. 

“So mi pajarito proved to be Cinderella, huh?” The mocking tone in his voice for some reason insulted her so she freely scoffed since they both knew he couldn’t just kill her for disrespecting him. 

“Trust me, I'd rather be stuck on this island forever than actually be bought by those people.” She felt too annoyed with the situation and averted her gaze from his just for a second. Her mistake and he took advantage of it fully. 

Faster than Hope can say “madman" he straddled her once again. At least he wasn’t sexually assaulting her yet. She was too tired and it's been a chore to keep herself straight in front of Volker so she just let him do as he pleased while she looked anywhere but at him. Until he grabbed her by her neck, lightly. Again. 

You bitch. 

“I was there that night too, pajarito.” A bit of a surprise but not actually. She just had that much rotten luck. 

“Seeing you with that motherfucking white boy… kissing him, touching him, being all lovey does and shit… it broke my heart, hermosa. I wanted to kill the both of you for the disrespect. But then you began to speak about your past and all the boring shit, as if you guys were in a shitty fucking drama or something and I've been thinking. I realized that you two had been lovers once and that Jason made you remember it. The fucking playboy. Fucking his girlfriend, fucking my sister, of course he wanted to fuck someone that didn’t belong to him too. And he used your past emotions against you, mi amor. Just like the whore of my sister, Citra. The fuckers are made for one another.” She wasn't going to try to understand anything of what he said and just sleep until he said that accursed name. 

“Wait, what?” No. No, no, no, no, no. He wouldn’t. No! 

**No.**

“C'mon mi princesa, you may look like one of those dumb bitches Hoyt has for girlfriends but you're not one of them. You're much smarter than that! I said my bitch of a sister and that fucking playboy are made for one another. Keep up, bebe!” She must have turned several shades of white because no way Jason would do that. No way. He just told her (most likely not last night) that Liza deserved to not be cheated on. So… no way. No. 

“You're lying. He wouldn’t.” 

“And yet he was so ready to fuck you a few nights ago even though he already has a nena? Also brownie points for giving blue balls to the fuck boy. No way mi chica would whore herself, maybe with me but no one else.” The wink and change of attitude gave her whiplash but she quickly remembered how Hughes said Montenegro killed Jason. 

“I have questions. Will you answer them… please?” 

“Maybe… If I get somethings in exchange.” The playful tone of the pirate gave her shivers, and not the exciting kind she would get with Jason, but she didn’t want to show him, out of everyone, fear and… she really was getting nervous. For various reasons. 

“… What do you want from me? Volker left clear I'm a hostage until my version of doomsday. I have no privileges. At most I can ask him for specific drugs you want.” The tiredness in her voice was evident but he chuckled as if she was making a funny retort. 

“As tempting as it sounds I have a better idea. You ask me a question and I will name you a price in exchange. If you want your question answered you will do as asked cariño, and if you don’t want to you don't. But you might as well never get an answer.” His tone was final and she just glared because she was so done with everything. 

“Fine, I accept your deal. But don't you dare ask me for stupid things I actually can't do.” The glare in his eyes was chilling but she was done with the politeness. 

“You see pajarito… it's going to be your need to know, what will bring you to me.” She glared back at him out of spite. 

They stayed a few moments like this, glaring at each other, until his stare mellowed and while still holding her neck, he caressed her cheek with his bandaged hand. 

“You haven't changed your bandage.” 

“Of course not. You did it for me that day we met. Talking about it, why didn’t you snitch to Hoyt? I may like you pajarito, but I know you don't like me. Why didn’t you talk?” At least he wasn’t delusional, all past actions not considered. So it kind of felt better knowing that. But she wasn’t going to give him an answer straight away. 

“I'll answer you if you answer one of my questions also. No deal otherwise.” Her monotonous voice hopefully did it's job. 

He watched her, most likely contemplating her arrangement, and settling on a solemn look he nodded. Great. 

“I did it because I believed you will treat me better while I was stuck with you guys. And maybe not let your guys rape me or do other gross stuff to me. But I guess I kind of helped you since Volker apparently loves to act like an arse to you.” He scoffed at her answer. 

“Do you really think I would have let them touch you? No way preciosa. Besides that Hoyt would have my head I also wouldn’t let anyone touch mi ángel de la guarda. Just tell me if any of them bother you and I'll teach them some manners by feeding them to the sharks.” 

“… Thank you, Montenegro.” It was a bit unsettling but it was the best, she believed, coming from the pirate. 

“Now, my question is… why are you so sure you killed Jason?” She tried to keep her voice steady but she really didn’t know to feel over the fear that Jason might be dead and the seed of doubt Montenegro planted in her heart. As for the rest of them she didn’t worry since they had Grant. Grant definitely must have found Jason by now. They were surely planning to rescue her some way or another. 

Surely. 

_If_ _Talugmai_ _would have told Jason to leave her for dead… would he?_ _No, you're just_ _making a mess_ _inside your head Hope for nothing. That's what Montenegro wants. For her to hate Jason. To create discord between them_ _and find the others thanks to her_ _. Divide and conquer._ _She won’t_ _run into his trap. No way._ _No way Jason slept with that_ _woman. No way._ _He is not a_ _cheater. He may be selfish and prideful and reckless but he's not a cheater. No._ _She won't believe it._ _No._

_… But what if, Hope?..._

“Well, you must already know I tried to burn him and that didn’t work. So, I decided to drown him. I even tied a cement block around his leg. No, no, no, don't get surprised yet. The motherfucking wannabe warrior still survived somehow. He even stole one of the fucking choppers. We took it down and the fucking cockroach was still alive! Imagine my surprise and rage, hermosa! The fuckboy of my sister had so much luck. So I went to where the chopper crashed and bum! I shot him. In the chest. Thinking about it I should have shot him in the head but in his heart it felt more poetic. Then we threw him in one of the piles with bodies and done. He's dead. Yet, Hoyt is still mad since I have to kill the other Brody and find the rest. You could help me with that cariño, but by your glare I doubt it.” She couldn’t feel any more contempt to the man straddling her but even as he described all the ways he tried to kill Jason, she knew he was truthful, but she was still determined to believe in Jason. He must have recognized her stubbornness and his happy mood soured. 

“Anyway, let’s forget about that motherfucker. I believe you have other questions, hermosa. I'm waiting. And considering your question I will request something of the same value.” He began to tap his pointer on her neck and it was obvious he wanted to take advantage of her curiosity as much as he can. 

“Why are you so sure Jason and Talugmai... fucked?” She didn’t want to use the word since it made it feel more like a reality. The bastard grinned and she could practically feel his satisfaction hit her in waves. 

“Since I'm so generous I will give you a small request even though I shouldn’t. In exchange, you will address me either by my name, Vaas, or call me ‘mi rey’ or ‘mi amor’ but I believe it's too soon for the last one.” 

“Fine then. Vaas, please answer me.” 

“Say it once more.” 

“Vaas.” 

“Once more.” 

“… Vaas, please.” 

“OK, OK. It's OK… for now. I know my sister chose Jason as her warrior since she gave him the tatau already. And since she is their fucking warrior goddess, she needs to fulfill the legend, fuck her most powerful warrior and kill him so she can give birth to a brat that will lead those old fucks to glory. Bunch of fucking old stories that make no sense.” It was a lot of information but she got the basics. 

“Then… since you were once her champion… God. No wonder you want to kill them so badly.” Now, maybe she could say that his madness wasn’t born out of pure sadism. But it made her sympathize with him which was so much worst for her. 

Maybe because of the drugs that were keeping her pain to a minimum, maybe because she felt actually bad for him, she raised her hand and caressed his left cheek. He watched her surprised at her action of kindness and he snuggled his face in her palm. 

“You still love her, don't you?” Her voice was small, hoping he didn’t hear her but with how close he was, it was a foolish thought. 

“I think I deserve a kiss for such question pajarito.” She didn’t understood what was up with the honesty but she might as well take the offer. And maybe she shouldn’t be so cold when he was so vulnerable. 

“Then come and take it.” He didn’t wait any longer, freed her neck and crashed his lips with hers. It was urgent but he was gentle. Not trying to scare her away from him. 

He really liked her, huh? 

And maybe because she was dumb or petty towards Jason, she actually answered him. And it was nice. He kissed nice. It was easy to imagine she was anywhere but on the island, with a nice guy she just started a fling with, to kill the loneliness. Her mother would judge her for playing with people's emotions and Giovanni would be supportive and tell her to have responsible fun. He always had been weird but he was her weird Godfather. 

She realized she was homesick. She didn't felt like that since Yale.

When she began to kiss him harder, his lips left hers and puzzled, she watched him. He watched her hopeful for a second but the coldness came back to his eyes quickly. 

He didn’t trust her. And he was right to do so. 

In too much pain to actually fight back she let him do as he pleased. Yet something must have changed since he didn’t grab her by her neck again. 

“There was a time where I’d do anything for my sister. First time I ever killed was for my sister. She made all those promises and all those premonitions that we'll lead together. That we were meant to be the warrior goddess and the warrior that killed the Ink Monster. And for a while… it's been like that. But then she came with the demands. Kill more. Fight more. More bullshit blood rituals. More…”

She started to caress his check once again when she saw how he started to fall deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole of his memories. She hated that she could sympathize with him. With a murderer, a slaver, a psychopath. But she knew how much damage those dark memories could do. So this was everything she could do. Make him realize he was not actually alone even if she didn’t knew what did he went through. She didn’t have anyone when she needed it. She hid it away from those that could have helped her. So she might as well turn the other cheek. 

For now. 

He recovered from his – she'd rather call nightmare than daydream – reverie and focused his attention on her once again. 

“She wanted a child. I gave her everything, absolutely everything but I couldn't give her that. I loved her but I couldn't love her like that… But I still went with it. I trusted her. I trusted her to stop. Yet she nearly killed me. She asked me to chose… me or them? Me or THEM? ME OR THEM?! AS IF I WAS THE ONE SUPPOSED TO MAKE A CHOICE!” He began to grip her shoulders in the middle of his speech and grip harder and harder until she let out a groan out of pain. He stopped gripping and gave her a look-over but seeing as he didn’t actually hurt her too much, and her smiling, urging him to continue, he finished. 

“I left the tribe and she didn’t even want to acknowledge me anymore. She wanted me dead. I was a forgotten. Everything I've done? Bullshit. I gave my life to her? Bullshit. I made herself into a goddess? Bullshit. And then… I met Hoyt.” That solemn tone didn't fit him at all. It was like they were at a funeral. But maybe they were… and he was mourning his past idiotic self. 

With Hoyt he found a new job, something that will give him what he desired, something that brought him a meaning, something that gave him freedom. He found another person that would leash him. 

She didn’t say that aloud. She didn’t wish to rub more salt into his wounds. She had a feeling he was doing that himself. Most likely unknowingly. She knew whatever she said he will take it as pitying and reject it. After all, in his eyes they must be coming from completely different worlds… Which brought unfortunately another question. 

“Why… are you so interested in me? I just did what anyone would do. Why keep me? You wouldn’t be stuck on babysitting duty. And if you are so stubborn to keep me with you what are you actually going to do when they come to buy me?” So many questions, so little time. 

“I would need something big to ask from you for all those questions, hermosa. And I don't think you are prepared for what I want yet. I want you to love me when it's going to happen cariño. Really love me. I've heard you when you said you have been searching hopelessly for Jason. But I know when I first kissed you, you weren't thinking about him, not at all. You were thinking about me. That's what I want from you, pajarito. For you to take me into your heart and let me be reborn. With your love.” She had to throw a look of confusion at him and he chuckled. “What I want is for you to love me, to actually try and love me, without changing me, and forget about Brody. There is no way you can save him, ángel. Citra will turn him into her warrior and he's going to be so fucked. He is on the path to become someone like me and that’s what Citra wants. So I want you to chose me over him. To save me… Just like you did at the beach. And there is no way I can share mi reina with the white fuckboy. He would just ruin you along with himself. That's what Citra does. Ruins. Ruins everything she touches just because she believes so badly in bullshit legends and made-up Gods. And now that you are involved with fucking Brody she will kill you. Do you remember when those fuckers were following you?” It didn’t take her long to remember. 

“Of course. You and some of your pirates killed them... So you knew I was there and yet… you let me run away?” 

“… I had other shit to deal it. Like torturing those brainwashed fuckers to understand why they were following you. What was Citra planning to do with you. But none said shit and they just fucking died. Brainwashed fucks. Then I followed you and fucking Snow White… And everything became so much fucking clear.” The deadly tone in which he finished had her worried. His character was already as volatile as possible. She had no need to feed the flames. She only needed to find a way to smother them without getting burnt too much. Hopefully. 

“Anyway, since now I'm in your… safe keeping, the Rakyat can't reach me, so everything is excellent. I mean, with how well you captured them and killed them, and with how strong and cunning you are… I literally have nothing to fear… Thank you… Vaas.” To finish she took his bandaged hand in hers and squeezed while she took his other hand and left a gentle kiss upon the back of it while watching him, to see his reaction. 

She honestly expected him to watch her as if she just shot his hand but he actually blushed. Once more, she couldn’t understand the pirate. Did her actions and words really affected him that much? She scratched anger as an option out of her head because of his wonder, as if she just made a miracle happen in front of him. He seemed placated enough. 

But then… what happened between her and Jason at Valsa… it must have really affected him. And it must have forced him to take harsher solutions considering her previous escapes and the dooming threat of Volker. How would she reunite with the others in these conditions…? How would she find Jason like this…? 

_How…?_

**Author's Note:**

> I can't believe I started this like last year... and I had to worry then only with Sir Brody and his prompt. But then like the insane, but handsome, bastard Sir Montenegro is... he crawled under my skin. The handsome motherfucker. And I had to add more, of course.
> 
> I'm sorry for this monstrosity and if you reached the end: thank you and hope you liked it.
> 
> Right now I don't plan to add more to this AU of an AU lol. Happy New Year.


End file.
